


The Game

by roseromanoff



Category: Black Widow (Movie 2020), Captain America (Movies), Imposters (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AU, Con Artists, Crime, F/F, F/M, Heavily inspired by tv show, Imposters, Slow Burn, SteveNat AU, romanogers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:07:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21896407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseromanoff/pseuds/roseromanoff
Summary: Natasha Romanoff has lived a lot of lives as a con artist. Her job is simple: take on a new identity, make her mark fall in love with her, marry them for 28 days, take them for all they have and then disappear without a trace.After all, how complicated could it get?
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov & Thor, Sharon Carter & Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov, Wanda Maximoff & Natasha Romanov
Comments: 49
Kudos: 114





	1. Till Death Do Us Apart

**Day 28, 21:55**  
Betty and Bruce were cuddling on the couch as they watched their wedding day video.

Betty and Belinda were laughing and chatting away.

“You and your sister look nothing alike.” Bruce laughs.

“As I’ve been told many times before.” Betty responds.

Florence whisks Betty away for a dance.

“I still love how close you and your brother in law are.” 

“Well, he treats my sister well so it was easy for me to become close friends with him.”

Bruce nods slightly to show he agrees.

A shot of them dancing flashed on the screen and Bruce’s eyes filled with admiration for his beautiful bride.

He looks down towards Betty. “You’re so beautiful.” 

Betty meets his gaze and a wide grin spreads across her face. 

“You know you don’t have to say that anymore. I’m already your wife.” She teases.

Bruce chuckles softly. He was about to open his mouth to respond when he suddenly remembered something. 

“Wait here.” He gets up to go grab something.

The video continued playing. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the joyous union of Betty and Bruce"

He comes back with a small, delicate box.

Betty raises her eyebrows. “Another post-wedding gift?” 

Bruce smiles. “The big one is tomorrow so don’t get too excited about this one.”

"I, Betty Lovelace, take thee Bruce Banner as my lawfully wedded husband.”

He hands her the box and Betty slowly opens it. Bruce sees her eyes light up. 

“It’s beautiful.” Betty takes the gold necklace out of the box and admires it. She notices the infinity symbol. “In sickness and in health”

“The infinity symbol reminded me of what I wanted our marriage to be.” Bruce explains. “I want to love you for eternity.”

She stares at the man before her as tears well up in her eyes from his touching words.

She leans in and gives him a firm kiss. The kiss quickly becomes heated. 

“I will love you for eternity.” Betty says breathlessly as Bruce’s hands go under her shirt. 

“Till death do us apart”

**Day 29, 07:30**  
Bruce walks into building and sees Mr Everett being taken away in a stretcher. 

His friend Elliot approaches him. “Hey dude.”

“What the hell happened to Mr Everett?”

“He was printing some documents and suddenly he just collapsed.”

“Poor guy. He died? Just like that?.” 

“Yeah, can you imagine?" 

"Gosh.." 

"By the way, your father wants you in his office.”

Bruce nods and heads towards his father’s office.

“Dad?”

“Brucey!” His father exclaims! “Come sit.”

Bruce sits down swiftly with a big smile plastered across his face. 

“I’m guessing the big smile on your face means things with you and Betty are going well.” 

Bruce nods. “Yes. Yes they are.”

“Don’t screw it up.” His father says teasingly.

“I’m trying not to dad.”

“You prepared the big surprise for her yet?”

“Picking it up after work.”

“I’m happy for you kiddo, happy you found the one. She's perfect for you.”

Bruce smiles appreciatively. “Thanks dad.”

**Day 29, 16:54**

Bruce picks up the small Pomeranian puppy excitedly. “Oh Betty is going to love you so much!”

“A present for your girlfriend?” The woman asked.

“A present for my wife.” Bruce corrects proudly.

Bruce puts down the puppy and gets his card out to pay. 

“Um sir apparently your card is no good.”

“What?”

“It declined.” 

“Oh…umm here try this one.” Bruce quickly grabs out another one of his credit cards.

“Nope sorry sir this one declined too and I have to close in 5 minutes.”

“Ok..ok can you just give me 2 minutes I’ll run down to the ATM and take out some cash?”

The woman sighed. “Fine.” 

“Thank you, thank you so much.” Bruce mutters as he races out of the store. 

Bruce taps into the ATM. Balance $00.00

“What the hell….” Bruce whispers. 

He decides to hurry back home first and find out what the hell is going on.

**Day 29, 17:01**

Betty paces around the house impatiently until her phone finally rings. 

“You ready for extraction Betty Lovelace?” The male voice asks mockingly.

“Oh shut up. As if your name is any better, Florence Davies.” 

“Hey you’re meant to show your brother in law some respect.”

She huffs out a breath of annoyance. “Where are we meeting this time?”

“I’ll send you the coordinates on the burner phone after the phone call. Have you followed the protocol for everything else?”

She rolls her eyes. “Clint I think I’ve gotten the hang of it by now.”

“Just looking out for my sister in law.”

“You know you can drop it now right? The only one that needed to stay in character after the stupid wedding was me.”

“I'll see you in a couple hours. Maria and Nick will be there too.” 

"Huh Belinda and Mr Everett can finally reunite." 

"Yeah yeah whatever bye." Clint hangs up.

Seconds later she receives the coordinates of where they're meeting. It was the airport, they were headed for Seattle.

“Alright, time to disappear Betty Lovelace.”

She goes into the bathroom. She takes off her dark brown wig and her bright red hair comes flowing through. She takes out her hazel brown contacts and her emerald green eyes pierced into the mirror. This was the real her.

She huffs out a breath of annoyance as she has to put on a new disguise again for insurance. After 10 minutes her transformation is complete. Dirty blonde wig and ice blue eyes, basic but efficient. 

She cleans up the area, leaving no trace of herself for Bruce to search. 

She looks around “her” house one last time. 

“Bye Bruce Banner, it’s been fun falling in love with your boring ass.”

**Day 29, 19:20**

Two hours later she finally reaches the airport. Her heels click against the pathway as she holds her head up high. The best way to not look suspicious is to look obnoxious. 

She reaches the check in counter.

“I’m booked in a 8 o’clock flight to Seattle.” 

“Sure name and photo ID please.” 

She swiftly takes off her sunglasses as she hands the woman her passport. Her fake blue eye show through and the woman smiles at her kindly.

“Natasha." She smirks. "Natasha Romanoff."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. I'm really not a great writer but I just wanted to try exploring this idea I had in mind.
> 
> I was heavily inspired by the TV show "Imposters" so there will be similarities.
> 
> I have a lot of ideas for this fic so if you enjoyed it and would like for me to continue it please comment!
> 
> Any feedback at all is appreciated!
> 
> *This is a stevenat fic, all of Nat's other relationships are either friendship, partnership or her previous "partners" that she conned*


	2. Natalie Rushman

“Do you understand that this is a criminal act Bruce? A criminal has been involved in our lives for the past 7 months!!” Bruce’s father yells frantically.

Bruce lifts his head up from his palms. His father can now see his bloodshot eyes. Crying for a solid 4 hours can do that to you. 

“She took all your cash, she took cash maximums on all your credit cards, including the company card-”

“Dad I know” Bruce interrupted it.

“Not only that. She took out a SECOND mortgage on your house. God she even cashed all the bonds and shares that I gave you.” 

“Dad-“

“That’s 850 grand Bruce. 850 GRAND WORTH OF MONEY ALL GONE.” 

“DAD!” Bruce finally gets him to shut up. “Just stop talking please…..I don’t need you reminding me that my wife is a criminal and a liar.”

“She is not your wife Bruce. We don’t even know who she actually is. Is there anything real about her?”

Bruce remains silent as his father huffs out a breath of anger.

“This is what we’re going to do. We’re going to find her, then we’re going to go after her and then we’re going to take this bitch-“

“No. You know what we’re going to do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We’re going to let her go.”

“What? Are you crazy?, you must be-“

Bruce plops a thick file onto his father’s table.

“What’s this?” Bruce’s father picks it up and starts flipping through it.

“Betty left this file and a video.” 

“Well do you still have the video?”

“Nope it was a URL written in lipstick across the fridge. I typed it in and the video played. It deleted itself afterwards.”

“Well what the hell did she say?”

“She said goodbye. She wished me happiness and luck.” Bruce chuckled bitterly. “She also said that if we try to find her or if we call the police she will expose everything in that file.”

“How did she-“

“She knew secrets that I didn’t even know. I say we drop it dad, unless you wan’t the whole world to know how you became a world renowned scientist.” 

———  
“We took the Banners for almost 900 grand I think we deserve a break.” Maria states.

“Well the President certainly doesn’t think so.” Fury answers plainly. 

“What’s our next step then?” Natasha asked.

“Eager to get a better mark this time Nat?” Clint asked with a smug grin across his face. 

“Oh shut up Barton you’re not the one that has to do all the work. You have no idea what it was like falling in love with Bruce Banner. It was like talking to a brick wall.”

Everyone chuckled. 

Nick coughs. “Alright lets’ see what we’ve got this time.”

He rips open the package and takes out stacks and stacks of files.

“Alright our next mark is…” Fury flips through a folder “Jasper Sitwell. The manager of the largest bank in the city. His wife left him 1 year ago for a plumber. This guy has a shitload of money just stored away.” 

Fury hands it over to Maria and she bursts out laughing. “Oooo Nat his a real catch for sure.”

Natasha gives Maria a stern look as she snatches the file from her hand. She stares at the picture and groans. Jasper Sitwell was an ugly bald middle aged man who had wide glasses and a terrible, terrible taste in clothing. 

“Why? Why the hell does the President give us all these shitty marks.”

“And he gets to keep 60% the money WE make.” Clint chips in. 

“Alright let’s see who we’re going to be this time.” Fury says, completely ignoring their protests. 

“Addison Stevens. Maria that’s you.” Fury hands her the file. 

“Hmm, it says his housekeeper just recently quit. Think I found my angle!” 

“Harry Burke. Let’s see, oh that’s me.” Fury continues reading. “Now I am meant to be the new IT guy of Mr Sitwell’s bank. That should be easy enough.”

He continues flicking through the files. “Chris Connor. Clint that’s you.”

“And what I am doing?”

“You will be Natasha’s childhood best friend. Almost like a brother.” 

“That should be easy enough.” Clint wiggles his brow as Natasha slaps his arm.

“And you, Miss Romanoff, will be Natalie Rushman.” 

Maria gives Natasha a curious look. Natasha is confused. “Why so close to my real name?”

“I have no idea. Guess the President is getting bolder. He also wants you to keep your original look. Red hair and green eyes.”

“Seriously?’ Natasha raises an eyebrow. This was all new territory. 

“Yep.” Nick answered.

“Now just do the usual. Study your new identity, get to know the mark and start working. Let’s go people.”

“See you all in the game.” Maria chimes.

“In the game” “Natasha responds flatly. 

———

Natasha Romanoff may have to switch identities every few months. Her personalities, likes and dislikes, careers and passions, never seemed to be the same. However, there was one thing Natasha could be consistent with despite whatever identity she was meant to take on. Natasha Romanoff was a coffee lover.

Which is exactly why she ended up at the local coffee shop. She orders her usual, black coffee with a dash of vanilla sweet cream. She liked her coffee bitter because that was the way coffee was supposed to be but she’s not someone that’s against making little changes in order to make something better, hence the sweet cream. She spots a place seat in the corner and makes her way over. She sits down and enjoys her coffee. 

It had been 2 days since she left Bruce Banner. It was always day 2 when she starts overthinking. Was he sobbing like a baby into his pillow? Was he angry and punching away at a boxing bag with her face on it? Was he reminiscing their wedding photos whilst laying on the couch like a pathetic loser? Did he still love her? Or did her already have plans to find her and take revenge against her? 

Natasha has always been told she’s good at reading people. So she guesses his probably been aimlessly crying for a couple hours. He doesn’t seem like the type to have guts to go after her. Especially with everything the President has on his family. 

Natasha was almost certain she was right. She was good like that. She can figure out an individual’s wants and desires before they even know what they truly yearn for. She knows what her mark needs and dangles it in front of them like a prize until they give up everything just to be with her. She becomes everything they want, everything they crave. And then, she leaves and takes everything from them. All while not having a single moment of hesitation or showing any amount of sympathy. She can completely detach her true self from the person she was meant to be playing. All her thoughts, all her feelings, all of Natasha Romanoff was gone once she became whoever she needed to be. She was like a shapeshifter. 

Hence, why the President labelled her as the best of the best. Even to go as far as giving her the title “Black Widow”. She was deadly, dangerous and beautiful. Natasha Romanoff was good at her job. Plain and simple.

Suddenly a young man pulls up a chair and sits next to her, interrupting her thoughts. He seems to not notice her presence though as he focused on the drawing on his sketchpad. 

Natasha stares at him, more precisely his sketchpad because she’s a little intrigued by his artwork. He finally lifts his head up and meets her gaze. She notices his eyes first, they’re so blue. 

“Ma’am.” He smiles.

“Hi.”


	3. Lies, lies, lies

_"Ma'am."_

_"Hi."_

\------

The man continued to stare at her intensely, almost as if he was trying to figure her out, but not very subtly at all. 

Natasha raises one of her brows “Is there something on my face stranger?”

He snaps out of it and awkwardly chuckles. “Sorry um I just kind of zoned out.” He tries to organise his supplies but it ends up all over the floor.

“Damn it.” He curses under his breath.

Natasha can’t help but let out a small smile, this man was flustered so easily.

She gets out of her seat to help him out and the first thing she picks up is his sketchpad. It’s a charcoal drawing of a bird. A very unique looking bird. They stand up at the same time and she finally takes her eyes off the drawing to hand it back to him. 

“Nice drawing.” 

He looks down at the sketch pad and sees what she’s referring to. “Oh. It’s a really rough sketch, I was kind of in a rush.”

“The bird. It looks really chaotic but almost..” Natasha tries to find the right word, she’s never been an artsy person. “Magical.”

“Oh um it’s a phoenix. It’s a mythical creature from, you know, Ancient Greek folklore.”

“Oh.” Natasha catches on. “The creature that is reborn from its own ashes.”

The mans eyes light up. “Yes! Yes correct. It rises gloriously from the ashes as a new being ready to start a new life. It’s fascinating and extraordinary. It’s-“

He notices Natasha staring at him as he rambled on.

“Gosh I’m sorry. I’ve just never met someone who actually knew much about mythology. I kind of get carried away when talking about art and history.”

That actually makes Natasha giggle. _Giggle_. She was actually completely fine with listening to him talk about his art. “I find it fascinating.”

“The phoenix?”

“No.” Natasha shakes her head. “You. I find you fascinating.”

A blush appears on the man’s face.

Natasha continues to explain. “I like how passionate you are about your work. You seem to really know what you’re trying to express. That’s what makes it great.”

“Thank you. That’s..that’s very sweet of you.” 

“Well I only speak the truth.” Natasha smirked.

Their eyes meet again as the man extends his hand out. “I’m Steve Rogers.”

Natasha accepts. “Natalie Rushman.”

His not her mark but having a friend wouldn’t hurt. Right? 

———

Natasha stood in front of her mirror. She looked good. 

Her natural red hair was curled and pinned back neatly. Her make up was very natural and glowy. She wore a tight pastel pink pencil skirt with a plain white blouse that was loosely tucked in.

Now she just needed to find her angle. 

She stands in front of her mirror. 

“Mr Sitwell. I’m Natalie Rushman.” She practised with a very sultry voice. It didn’t feel right. Maybe straight up seduction wouldn’t work on this guy.

She flicks through the file about Jasper Sitwell again. 

_Graduated top of his class at Stanford University._

_Accused of 3 cases of sexual assault but never convicted._

_Wife left him for a plumber a year ago._

She studies the photos and closely examines his face. Just from a few glances she could assume Jasper Sitwell has a temper and an unbelievably big ego. 

She smirks in satisfaction. She knows exactly how to play Natalie Rushman. 

“Hi Mr Sitwell.” Her voice became high pitched and sweet. “I’m Natalie Rushman.”

She fake giggles. “Every few years I like to try new places, new faces.”

This man would fall for a slug if it was wearing a tight dress and a push up bra. Screw it, Natasha was going to make this one fun for herself. She breathes out a sigh. “Alright. Game on.”

———

“Mr Sitwell is ready to see you now.”

Natasha walks in confidently and sees Jasper Sitwell focused on the folder before him. 

“Mr Sitwell.” Her sweet voice comes back.

He finally lifts his head up and as expected his mouth slightly falls open. This man was way too predictable. Natasha could already see the hunger and desire swimming in his eyes as he shamelessly looks her up and down. 

“I’m Natalie Rushman, but you can call me Nat.” She gives him a bright smile.

Jasper Sitwell smirks. “Pleasure to meet you Miss Rushman. Please take a seat.”

She swiftly sits down making sure to maintain eye contact with the man in front of her.

“I’ve had a look at your resume and might I say you have some excellent references. So why Seattle? Why this bank?”

“Hmm..” Natasha pretends to be deep in thought as she lets her eyes wander around the room. His office was clean, organised. This was a man that liked to stay in control. 

“I guess some people like to refer to me as a free spirit. Every few years I like to see new places, meet new people.” 

“A free spirit. In banking?”

Natasha brings her hands to cover her mouth and giggles sweetly. “Yeah I mean there are banks everywhere so I can always make a living depending on where I want to go next.” 

“Interesting, well-“

Suddenly there’s a knock on the door. Sitwell huffs out a breath of annoyance. “What the hell is it?”

An elder woman comes in. “Sorry to interrupt Mr Sitwell but I just needed to remind you that your conference call is in 10 minutes.”

“You think I’m an idiot? I already know that. Now get out.”

The woman leaves. 

“Sorry Miss Rushman. My employees are morons.”

Hm an asshole too, how lovely. 

“Anyway can you tell me what you believe would be required of you as my assistant? Let me tell you it would not be an easy job even for a pretty girl like you.” He smirks at her and folds his arms across his chest.

Huh so he was a man who craved power. He likes to be in charge. He likes to be praised. 

“Well, I assume my job would be to make you look your best.”

A smile creeps on his face as he slightly nods in approval. 

Natasha secretly nods to herself. She’s got him right where she wants him.

“I mean you’re the one with the challenging job. As your assistant I would be doing my best to make it easier for you.” 

She remembered his wife left him, for a freakin’ plumber. He would probably be looking for women’s approval everywhere he goes. Natasha leans in slightly and looks at him innocently. 

“My job would be to listen to you. Follow your instructions. Obey your rules. Keep YOU happy.” 

God, it almost looked like Jasper Sitwell was getting off on her words. His eyes colour had become darker as he loosened his tie. This was the key to seduction. Giving your mark something they can’t give themselves. If Jasper Sitwell was looking for a sweet, innocent and naive girl that approved of everything he said and did, then that is who Natalie Rushman will be. 

Sitwell had a smug grin on his face. Despite the image of him making Natasha want to throw up she kept up her act and smiled back at him.

He coughs. “Well Miss Rushman I think you’ll make an excellent assistant.”

Natasha pretended to be shocked. “Oh my god really? Wow thank you so much Mr Sitwell!” She squealed in excitement.

He stands up and she follows straight away. He leads her to the door and she stands patiently waiting for him to talk. 

“Be loyal Miss Rushman. I’ve just given you the opportunity of a lifetime.”

“Absolutely. I won’t let you down.” She says her eyes sparkling. 

They shake hands and she could feel the tight grip he had on her. 

Well that was easy. 

———

It’s been almost a week since Betty left him and long story short, Bruce’s life had gone to shits. 

He chugged down another cold beer as he paid no attention to whatever was playing on the TV.

Ever since Betty left him he has been doubting everything and everyone, but mostly his been doubting himself. It’s as if he can’t do anything right. Betty was everything he never knew he needed. 

Suddenly there’s a knock at the door.

He slowly gets up to answer the door and is met by a tall blonde hair man.

“Hi. I’m Thor Odinson.”

“What do you want?” Bruce asked bitterly. He was in no mood to deal with an annoying salesmen.

“Are you Bruce Banner? Married to Betty Banner?”

“Yes. Um, yes I guess so.” How the hell did this man know Betty?

Suddenly Thor pushes past Bruce and barges into the house. “I need to see her right now.”

Bruce grabs his arm violently. “Hey buddy no one invited you in here. Wait…who the hell even are you. Why are you looking for Betty?”

Thor pushes Bruce harshly as he turns to look him in the eye. “She is my wife.”


	4. Following Your Dreams

“Wha-What do you mean?”

Thor attempts to choke back tears, “I am HER husband.” He grabs Bruce by the collar of his t-shirt. “Yeah that’s right asshole we married the same woman and she took us both!!”

Bruce was speechless. He wasn’t the only victim.

“I have tried to find her for 11 months so you better let me see her right now.”

Bruce huffs out a breath of defeat. “Well, I’m sorry Thor but….she’s gone.” 

“Damn it.” Thor whispers under his breath. “DAMN IT.” He throws his fist against the wall and it echoes throughout the house.

———

It’s been almost 2 weeks since Natasha started working for Jasper Sitwell and she knew she was impressing him.

Natasha had quickly learnt Sitwell’s routine, his likes and dislikes, his hobbies and where he likes to go on weekends. 

Turns out Jasper Sitwell had a passion for darts. He had a monthly subscription of a magazine that talked all about darts. Usually Natasha likes to educate herself on the passions of her mark in order to stay one step ahead. However, in Sitwell’s case she realised that he often liked to be the “know-it-all” in a relationship so Natasha decided to remain clueless about darts.

His favourite place to go on weekends is the bar across from the building she lived in. How convenient. 

Natasha made sure to have his coffee ready every morning just the way he liked it - a dash of soy milk with 2 sugars. She fixed any inconveniences he may encounter before it even begins to concern him. She made sure to put in an extra effort to get to know everyone that worked in the company in order to further perfect her persona of the sweet, friendly girl next door.  
With Natasha’s work ethic and determination, Jasper Sitwell was indeed very impressed. 

Natasha knew progress was being made as Sitwell offered to walk her home one afternoon after work. It was a rainy day and she had purposely made an effort to not bring an umbrella and of course, Sitwell had shown up outside the company with an umbrella, just like she had predicted. 

“Miss Rushman! I’ve got you!” He had said cheerfully.

“Oh my hero!” Natasha had joked as she put her hands around his arm. 

He had mainly covered her with the umbrella and for a man as selfish and arrogant as Jasper Sitwell, that was a major achievement on Natasha’s behalf. 

———

It was a beautiful Saturday morning and Natasha had decided to get some coffee at her local coffee shop again. 

“Can I get croissant and a black coffee please.”

“Yeah of course. To stay or to go?”

Natasha opened her mouth to answer until a raspy male voice interrupted her. “How about to stay?” 

She turns around and sees Steve Rogers with a cheeky smile on his face. 

Natasha smirks at him playfully. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“Oh trust me, you’re not.” 

They sit down with their drinks and Natasha decided she wanted to get to know this man more. Not just because he was so very attractive but also because he kind of intrigued her.

“So what are you doing in a city like Seattle.” Natasha asked.

“Well I um, I’m actually trying to figure that out myself.”

“Following your dreams?” Natasha teased.

Steve chuckled slightly. “More like following the path of least resistance."

"Just because it's the path of least resistance doesn't mean it's the wrong path."

Steve seems to agree with her. "So what did you do back in New York?"

I ran my own art gallery but it just didn’t seem to be worth it anymore.”

“So what did you do with it?”

Steve raised his eyebrow. “You really want to know?”, asking as if it was the first time someone actually gave a damn about who he was.

“Yeah.” Natasha said sincerely.

“I ended up selling it after I got a few offers from some companies. So here I am.”

“Wow….so what are you looking for here?”

Steve paused for a second and stared into her eyes intensely. “Inspiration.” He stated as his face breaks out into a smug grin. “And I think I’ve already found some.”

Natasha laughed, genuinely laughed. Oh this man’s charms will get him into so much trouble some day. 

“Well, what’s a lovely girl like you doing in Seattle?”

For some reason a lump seemed to form in Natasha’s throat and she struggles to find an answer. Maybe it was Steve’s honesty and sincerity that put her off guard and now she couldn’t bring herself to lie to him.

“Well you could say I’m on a journey of self discovery.” Natasha aimed to keep it as broad as possible. 

“That’s not what I expected. You seem like someone that has it all figured out.” 

“Well I am full of surprises.” Natasha gives a tiny wink and actually makes Steve blush. 

Natasha smiles. In that moment she forgets she’s meant to be Natalie Rushman and not Natasha Romanoff. This was dangerous. Natalie would never flirt like this, Natalie would never be so mysterious. Natalie was meant to be sweet, naive and an open book. 

“Nat.” Steve says which not only cuts her thinking process short but also startles her. She hasn’t heard a stranger call her by her nickname in so long. It felt like he was actually calling out for Natasha Romanoff, not Natalie Rushman. 

“I know this may sound weird but I um- I’m having a barbecue at my place next weekend. Just some friends and family coming together for lunch and, I would love it if you could come.”

“I-“ she coughs slowly to give herself some time to think. She knows she should say no. Spending any more time with someone that isn’t her mark would distract Natasha from her real job. However, the idea of meeting the people in his life sounded so wonderful. Steve Rogers was already such a nice man she couldn’t imagine how sweet his friends and family would be. It’s probably something Natasha has never experienced. It’s most likely something she’ll never be able to experience……

Steve sensed her hesitation.“If it makes you uncomfortable-“

“No. No. I um I would love to!” Uh oh. No this was bad. “It’s just new job, new city and everything. I’ve got a lot on my plate you know?” Natasha says attempting to save herself.

Steve nods his head in understanding. “Yeah. Yeah of course I get that. You know what?” He grabs out a notepad and a pen. “I’ll write down my phone number and address so if you have time you can just drop by and say hi.”

Natasha kindly accepted although she doubts she’ll ever allow herself to talk to him again. 

Suddenly she sees Clint walking towards the coffee shop and he seems to have already spotted Steve talking to her. Uh oh.

Clint comes in with a fake bright smile on his face.

“Hey Nat!”

“Hey…”she stands up and Steve follows.

“Steve this is Chris. Chris this is Steve.”

Clint offers his hand and Steve shakes it. “And his you’re?” Steve asks. 

“Oh his my best friend!”

“Yep! I’ve known this one since kindergarten.” Clint puts an arm around Nat and hugs her tightly. 

“OH!” Steve seems relieved by the idea of Clint being only just a friend and nothing more. 

They start chatting away but Steve doesn't notice the subtle glare Clint gives Nat which she can read right away.

_"What the hell are you doing?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update
> 
> I hope you all had a lovely Christmas :)


	5. A Liability

After the blowout with Thor and Bruce they finally calm down as Bruce offers Thor to come in and have a drink.

They sit in silence as Thor takes a big gulp of beer.

“You know I wasn’t always like this.” Thor starts the conversation.

Bruce turns to look at him attentively.

“I wasn’t this pathetic. I had it all you know. A successful career, women. Lots and lots of great women. They were all after me.”

“But, none of them ever saw me for me.” Thor huffs out a breath as he fiddles with his beer. “Until one day this older lady came into my office looking for a lease on a new car. Usually I don’t even do test drives but then I saw her niece-”

“Betty?” Bruce asked.

Thor looked at him, “Jane.” He said firmly. 

“She was so beautiful, smart and elegant. And she had all these amazing….words. I could listen to her talk all day.”

Bruce couldn’t imagine Betty being like this. Betty was never that good at expressing her thoughts and feelings. A few seconds in and she would be stuttering all over the place. However, Bruce adored her for that. Her genuine nature, an open book that would just spill out everything on her mind. 

“I took Jane out that night for dinner. I married her 5 months later. Everyone kept telling me it was too much too fast but I- I don’t know it just felt right.” Thor harshly rubbed his eyes. “Until it didn’t anymore.” 

“When she left me I was lost. I was fired from my job. I drowned my sorrows in booze every single day and screwed just about every woman that came my way.”

Bruce had a horrified expression on his face as Thor mentioned that.

“Don’t look at me like that I was heartbroken!”

Bruce shrugged and continued to listen.

“Then one day I decided this wasn’t who I was. I decided right then and there I was going to find Jane myself.”

“Ok wait..” Bruce begins to speak. “Betty pretended to be this classy, sophisticated girl called Jane and-“

“No, no Bruce. Stop it. Betty doesn’t exist. Jane probably doesn’t exist either. She is a con artist.”

Bruce was in denial. “No you don’t understand how we felt. I mean our marriage and-and the way we were with each other, it was-“

“What? It was so real? And she completed you?” Thor says harshly. “I felt that too but guess what? It was all a lie.”

Bruce’s expression falters and his eyes become watery. A part of him still had hope that Betty was still the woman he fell in love and she wasn't pretending with him, but maybe he was just being a fool. 

“Did you um- did you have a photo of…Jane?” Bruce asks with hesitation, not liking the way the name rolled off his tongue. 

Thor whips out his phone and brings up a photo as Bruce also hurriedly grabs a photo of Betty from his pocket. They put the two photos side by side. It was clear that the woman in both the photos were the same person but the two men couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

To Bruce, “Jane” looked like a stranger. Jane was a brunette with extremely long straight hair. She had on heavy make up and not one hair was out of place. Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes in that photo. She was still beautiful but seemingly untouchable. 

To Thor, “Betty” looked like a stranger. Betty was a brunette with short curly hair. She had soft and angelic features and her style was preppy but cute. The perfect girl next door. Her hair was tied up into a neat ponytail and she had a wide grin in that photo. She was sweet and innocent. 

Then suddenly an idea popped into Bruce’s head.

“I think I may know how to find her.”

Thor looked at Bruce questioningly. 

“Facial recognition. We have two photos and I have 500 dollars. How much do you have?”

“I don’t know, maybe close 500 as well?”

Bruce yanks Thor out of his chair. “Ok lets’ go!”

Bruce found one of his old friends that worked in this area of business. It wasn’t cheap. He said he would have to charge 6000 dollars in total for finding her then giving them all the information. Thor and Bruce knew that was a ridiculous amount to pay but they were also desperate. They were desperate to find their wife. 

Bruce sold everything he owned that was somewhat valuable as Thor took out all his savings in cash. They had $7102.75 all together. 

They came back a week later with the money.

“You give me the photos and I can get to work.” The man stated.

Now all Bruce and Thor could do was wait.

———

It was late at night but the team had decided it was time for a catch up.

Natasha, Nick, Clint and Maria were in Nick’s apartment.

“So how are things coming along?” Nick asked.

“I’ve been employed as his housekeeper and I do a little bit of snooping here and there but-“ Maria hesitated.”There’s nothing worthwhile in his house.”

Nick knew Maria was hiding something but tonight was not the night to ask. 

“Well as the new IT guy in Sitwell’s company, I’ve been able to hack into his computer. I’m sure there will be some useful information to help us out. Natasha just letting you know, he likes darts.” Nick said mockingly as the rest of them chuckled.

“Already got that Nick.” Nat smiled back at him.

“Clint got anything to report?” 

“Nope my angle in the game this time isn’t nearly as fun until Nat starts getting a move on.”

Natasha slapped Clint across the arm as he jokingly gave her an offended look.

“You guys, is it just me or is there something off about this target?” Maria asked.

“The only thing off is Nat’s focus.” Clint stated.

If Natasha could’ve actually pushed Clint out of the window with her mind right then and there she would’ve done it. Too bad she didn’t have telekinesis.

“Clint is just freaking out because he saw me talking to a guy at a coffee shop.” 

“It was the way you were talking to him Nat.” Clint said with a worried tone. Natasha just rolls her eyes.

Nick suddenly becomes very tense. “Natasha if what Clint’s saying is true-“

“Really Fury? You too?!”

“Natasha this mark is of special interest to the President we can’t have you running around not doing your job.” Nick warns her. Natasha doesn’t bother listening as she chugs down her drink in frustration. She was not distracted. She refused to believe that. 

“I am doing my job. I already have Sitwell wrapped around my finger.”

Fury sighs. “You know what, Maria why don’t you tell our dear Black Widow here about Tulsa?”

Maria immediately tensed. “Nick…..”

“Tell her.” Nick’s voice was stern until he met Maria’s fearful gaze. Fury’s serious expression suddenly falters and his voice becomes softer, “She needs to know.”

Natasha speaks up. “What happened in Tulsa?”

Maria gathers herself and takes a deep breath. “It was like 6 years ago. Before the President had recruited you and Clint. That mark was a-“ She took a big sip of her drink. “A long game. A real estate scam. It was like the hottest summer I’d ever experienced.”

Maria fiddles with her hand nervously. “So I went to the movies a lot, you know, just for the sake of it. I met this-um this guy.” Maria meets Natasha’s gaze and Natasha could see a glimmer of happiness just at the mention of him.

“His name was Anthony and-“ Maria took a deep breath “He was probably the sweetest guy I’d ever met.”

“I got a taste of real life and god forbid I actually started daydreaming about getting out. I lost my focus….”

A tingle creeped up Natasha’s spine. “Then what happened?”

Maria gave her a bitter smile. “Let’s just say the President sent me a message. A reminder that anybody not in this life, not like us..... they’re a **liability**.”

“He killed him?” Natasha asked, it was barely a whisper. 

Maria could only nod.

“If you care about those people Nat, you have to be careful.” Maria warned her. 

Natasha suddenly felt very uneasy. She chugged the rest of her drink and licked her lips mindlessly. She couldn’t imagine anyone in her life getting hurt because of her. For some reason her mind drifted off to Steve Rogers. He didn’t deserve to be caught up in her messed up life. He was a good person, she was a criminal. The last thing she would want is for him to be involved. And her team-Maria, Nick and Clint. Natasha didn’t want them to be punished for her not doing her job. It couldn’t happen. 

“I get it.” 

Natasha looks around and makes eye contact with each of them. It was her attempt of making a promise, a promise she would do her job so that they could all survive. 

“This guy at the coffee shop-“

“Steve Rogers.” Clint butts in.

“His a nobody.” Natasha adds. 

“You guys don’t have to worry.” She stares at Nick. “I’m on it.” 

Nick gives her a slight nod and goes back to drinking. 

Natasha could only sigh. She would make an extra effort to not go to that coffee shop and make any further contact with Steve. 

———

Bruce and Thor get a call 3 days later. They collected all the information.

They drive for almost 3 hours before almost reaching their destination.

“Can you believe we actually found her?” Thor asks in disbelief.

Bruce could only smirk. “Wasn’t that hard, thanks to me.” 

Thor just slaps Bruce playfully as they finally make it to the address on the paper. If this information was right they were only a couple hundred metres away from their wife. 

Betty. 

Jane. 

They keep walking silence. They go into the building and use the elevator to get to level 3. They arrive and make their way towards apartment 334.

It was at the end of the hall.

Bruce’s heart sped up as Thor’s palm begins sweating. They both thought confronting her would be easy. It's what they've wanted to do ever since she left. But with the dread of every step, they were indeed, terrified. 

Thor makes it to the door first and knocks.

The door opens. 

However, instead of their wife, they were met by another woman with long brown hair who had an excessive amount of jewellery on. 

Both of them are too shocked to speak up so the woman talks first. “Can I help you guys?”

Bruce catches on first and quickly grabs the photo of Betty out of his pocket. “Yes um- have you seen this woman?”

The woman examines the photo. 

“Are you kidding me?” She breathes out. The brunette snatches the picture from Bruce’s hand and stares at it in disbelief. “That’s my wife.”

“You have got to be shitting me.” Thor mutters as Bruce struggles to form a response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update took way longer than I wanted! I hope you guys enjoyed and comments would really be appreciated for feedback. It fuels me to keep writing! 
> 
> :)


	6. Want

_“Are you kidding me?” She breathes out. The brunette snatches the picture from Bruce’s hand and stares at it in disbelief. “That’s my wife.”_

_“You have got to be shitting me.” Thor mutters as Bruce struggles to form a response._

\------

The woman glares at them, “How do you know Kristen?”

“Well-you see, um- well, it’s complicated but we-“ Bruce was at a loss for words as he tries to break the news to this woman gently but Thor cuts him off.

“She’s our wife too.” Thor says impatiently. He was so sick of repeating this statement over and over again. 

The woman’s eyes widen in shock. She stuffs the photo back into Bruce’s hand and slams the door in their face.

“Wait!” Bruce yells. “Miss? Miss please open the door we need to talk to you about her.”

Thor starts violently banging on the door. “Hey! Hey open up!” Bruce pulls him back harshly. 

“What the hell Bruce?” Thor spits out.

“Stop it! You’re scaring her.”

“We need answers.” 

“You think by pounding on a stranger’s door like a lunatic is going to give us answers? You shouldn’t have dumped the news about Betty on her so abruptly! She’s clearly been hurt by her just like us two so if you want to get through to her why don’t you dig deep in your heart and try to show some sympathy instead!” Bruce was practically yelling by now but he didn’t care. He wanted answers just as much as Thor but he knew this wasn’t the way to approach this woman.

Thor huffed out a breath of defeat. He heads towards the door again and knocks on it softly. “I’m sorry Miss.”

Thor tries to take himself back to the day where he found out Jane left him. She had taken everything. All his cash, valuables and a part of himself…

He had never felt more lost in his life. Ever since he was young he had always been prioritised by his family. He was meant to be the one to carry on the family name and inherit the family business but he knew his passions lay elsewhere. Since Thor figured out what he truly wanted to do, him and his family had drifted apart. His father passed away. He rarely spoke to his mother. Him and his brother Loki had never been more distant. That’s when Jane came in and put him back on his feet. With Jane, Thor felt like he could truly accomplish anything he wanted to. He had become so reliant on her for support that the moment she left, all his ambition, drive and passion had disappeared too. 

That’s probably what this woman felt like. Alone, lost and hopeless….

“I know how you feel. I know you’re probably hurting.” God Thor was horrible at this. “My pal and I, we’re hurting too. I want you to know it’s okay to feel vulnerable and exposed right now. It’s just us. Two pathetic losers.“ Thor looks back at Bruce who had a small, sympathetic smile on his face. 

The door opens and the woman appears again. This time she has a smile on her face, even if it didn’t quite reach her eyes, it was a way for her to show that she was ready to talk. 

“You two-um” the brunette coughs and rubs her hands together “You can come in.”

Bruce and Thor give each other a look before heading inside.

“It’s a nice place you’ve got here.” Bruce tries to make small talk.

“It’s not mine. Just my family’s but I can keep living here as long as I keep going to therapy.”

Thor is quite shocked by this small confession. The woman gave him a bitter smile. “That way they can bully me without feeling horrible.”

Then there’s silence. Uncomfortable silence. The tension is lingering in the air and no one dares to be the first to ask questions. 

“I’m Wanda.” The brunette introduces herself. “Wanda Maximoff.” She pushes her hair to the back of her ears and looks at them expectedly for them to make their introductions.

“Thor Odinson.” He brings a hand out and Wanda accepts it.

“I’m Bruce. Bruce Banner. It’s lovely to meet you Miss Maximoff.”

“Just call me Wanda. No need to be so formal. Something tells me we’ll become quite close real fast” She smirks at them and the two men chuckle.

“So you two married Kristen as well?” Wanda asks.

“Well um-yeah but she was a different person to us.”

“I’m going to need more than that Bruce.”

“I married Betty Lovelace over a month ago. She left me a couple weeks ago.” 

Wanda’s eyebrow quirked up in understanding. “With all you money and valuables?”

Bruce nodded in agreement. 

“Wow. So she’s clearly a pro. Well I married Kristen Wallace 2 years ago.” Wanda says casually. 

Thor and Bruce both gasp. They had no idea their wife had been conning people for that long. Wanda could have very well been her first target. There has to be some other patterns they can find between the three of them. There has to be clues of who she really was. There had to be some part of her that was real.

“Well I married Jane Foster almost a year ago. Maybe she started working on me as soon as she left you.” 

That hurt Wanda. The timeframe seems to fit but could Kristen really have moved on that fast? Did their marriage, their love mean nothing to her? How could she just erase all the memories they made and become a whole new person while falling in love with someone else? “I’d like to believe that wasn’t true but these days my wife is surprising me more and more.”

“What was she like?” Wanda asks as she walks towards Thor. “Jane-Jane Foster. What was she like?”

Wanda knew she was coming off as desperate. It’s been two freaking years! She should be over her. She should’ve forgotten about her. She should be healing as her therapist says. But she never managed to heal. She only adjusted. Adjusted to Kristen not being around. Adjusted to not being loved. Adjusted to being alone…again.

Thor thought back to Jane. Jane Foster. Jane Odinson. His wife. The love of his life. She was so many things. Words were simply not enough to paint out her beauty. Her grace. Her perfection. 

“She was-She was one of a kind.” Thor managed to get out. 

A memory of her laughing flashes through his mind. Her laugh used to be music to his ears. 

“Everything I wanted.” 

Another memory of her walking down the aisle shows up in his head. 

Thor’s vision starts becoming blurry. 

“Everything I needed.” 

A vision of them holding hands and entering their new home appears next. 

Thor suddenly begins feeling this pressure building up in his throat and before he knew it, he was choking out the last bit of what he wanted to say. 

“Everything I craved.” 

A tear escapes the corner of his eye.

Wanda seems to feel the strong emotions radiating off of this man. All she wanted to do was take his pain away. She did the only thing she could do. She reaches up and cups his face in her tiny hands. Ever since she was young she’s been told that she has healer hands. Her touch is said to send warmth and comfort to others. Hence why she became a surgeon when she grew up. 

Wanda hoped her touch would be enough but they never teach you how to fix a broken heart, not even in med school. 

Thor leans in to her touch slightly. “I’m sorry.” Wanda whispers. “I am truly so, so sorry.” 

“Me too.” 

———

It’s been a few days since Natasha promised to get on Jasper Sitwell. And boy was she honouring her promise.

She was standing outside the bar that Sitwell visited regularly on Saturday nights for their weekly dart competitions. Pathetic but what other hobbies did she expect this asshole to have?

She had purposely made sure to wear her hair in an elegant bun to hide away parts of her hair that was more red than the rest. Natasha could tell Sitwell didn’t particularly like her red hair as he found it to be too odd and strange. He was clearly a man of tradition, a sucker for rules. Hence, she made sure to appear perfect. Not one hair was out of place and the tight dress she wore was ironed until there was no crinkle visible. 

Natasha knew this wasn’t who she was. She was a free spirit and hated being restricted. She was a woman who believed rules were meant to be broken. Pretty ironic for someone like her to end up with a job like this. 

She takes a deep breath and her whole persona shifts. The flirty, cute and naive Natalie Rushman was back. Natasha enters the bar and sits on the stools. 

“Can I get you something?” The bartender comes up to her.

“Yeah, I’ll have a cranberry vodka please.” Natasha starts taking in the scenery of the bar but purposely avoids looking towards the darts. She needed Sitwell to approach her first.

Natasha slides her money across, “Keep the change. I’m going to need a little favour tonight-“

“Put it on our tab.” A male interrupts them. 

Natasha turns around and is met by a middle aged man who had a playful smirk on his face. He was not ugly, some would even say he was attractive but Natasha could tell the man was your “typical asshole at the bar” type of guy. 

“No thanks.” Natasha declares coldly as she turns her back towards him.

“Oh come on why not?” He moves to sit beside her and leans in, making her extremely uncomfortable.

“If I let you it will cost me more.”

“Oh come on I’m harmless, I just-“

“What’s going on?” Another voice interrupts him and Natasha immediately recognised it. It was Sitwell. Natasha puts on her sweet face, turns around and prepares to acts shocked seeing him here. Game on.

“Mr Sitwell?!” She gasps.

He looked happy to see her.

“Jasper you know this one?” The other man asked.

“Um-“ he coughs and lifts up his glasses, “Miss Rushman here works for me.”

The man steps aways from Natasha “Well give your HR management a bonus.” He winks at Sitwell briefly and walks away.

“What are you doing here?” Sitwell asks, looking concerned. 

“I live right around the corner, just getting to know the city! Is this a good spot?”

His face lights up. “Well you have to go where the darts are.” He gestures towards the darts.

“Big darts game tonight?” Natasha says enthusiastically. 

He scoffs. “Match. It’s a darts match.”

“Oh…”Natasha pretends to be surprised. Of course she knew that. She had to research all about darts in order to accustom to her mark’s likes. However, Natasha knows Sitwell likes to appear knowledgeable, so of course she feeds his ego. “Big darts match tonight?” She exclaims, giving him a wide smile.

“Here let me show you them.” He offers. Of course Natasha takes him up on the offer as he brings over a box of darts.

He shows them to her. “You know, the game of darts goes back to the Battle of Agincourt in the 15th century.” 

_Oh god kill me now_ , Natasha thought. She props her face up with her elbows on the table and stares back at him intensely to pretend she was completely hooked on what he had to say.

He continues. “The first dartboard was actually the cross section of a tree.” He smiles giddily at her, expecting a reaction.

“Wow.” Natasha breathes out in fascination. “You’re a real enthusiast.”

“I kind of like history in general. I like the perspective on why things are the way they are. Why they happen and everything.” He starts making these awkward hand gestures. Gosh maybe she was actually starting to make him nervous.

“Hmm. History has never been my favourite subject. I do like old movies though. Like, “Casablanca”!” She looks at him excitedly.

“That’s kind of history right?” 

Sitwell actually laughs and of course she laughs with him. Natasha looks down and plays with her drink knowing that his eyes were now on her. From the corner of her eye she could tell Sitwell was looking at her with pure adoration. Bingo. Everything was going as planned.

He stares at her for a couple more moments before finally muttering “Miss Rushman you are a breath of fresh air.”

Natasha turns to meet his gaze and gives him a genuine smile. Time to take it up a notch. “Call me Natalie, we’re not at work.” Natasha gives him a small smirk and brushes her hand against his shoulder. 

His smile becomes even wider as he nods briefly. “Alright then.” Natasha catches him looking back at the place her hand was just a second ago. 

“Jasper!” His friend from before comes back. “More vodka shooters until I take your money. Your turn big guy.” He pats Sitwell harshly on the shoulders.

Natasha saw this as an opportunity. “No no no no no! My turn.” She jumps up excitedly to go order the vodka shots but not before looking back at Sitwell. “Oh when I come back will you teach me how to shoot a dart?” She asks innocently.

HIs eyes stay trained on her. It was almost like he was completely mesmerised by her genuine interest in his hobbies. 

The man interrupts again. “Oh, are you sure you don’t want the reigning champion to teach you?”

"No.” Natasha rejects. “I’m sure Jasper knows what his doing.” 

Sitwell didn’t seem phased by her calling him by his first name. This was a good sign. His usual stuck up attitude seemed to have melted. 

Natasha makes her way to the bartender to order the next round of shots. 

“Remember that favour from before?” She asks him. 

He looks at her expectedly.

“I need to order a round of vodka shots for that group of men and myself but I sort of need to remain alert for the rest of the night to do my job.” She leans against the table and winks at him.

Realisation hits him and he chuckles. “I understand Miss.”

He lines up the shot glasses and pours the drinks in. “Vodka, vodka, vodka.” He gestures to the shots. He pulls out another bottle and pours it in the last shot glass. “Water.” He smirks at her and she raises her eyebrows in amusement. 

“Drink them under the table.”

“Thanks.” Natasha whispers as she makes her way back. 

The night goes by decently fast and Sitwell spends a lot of time actually teaching Natasha. He was surprisingly patient with her, given that she was acting tipsy in response to her “vodka”. 

The group decided to test how good Sitwell was as a teacher and all put money in to bet that Natasha wouldn’t be able to make the target.

Now she’s standing in front of dart’s board with one dart in her as Sitwell stands beside her.

“There’s a lot of money on the table I’m scared.” Natasha purposely makes her hand shake slightly which leads to Sitwell tenderly grabbing her by the shoulders.

“Don’t worry I’ve got you covered just focus on what you’re doing.” He whispers. 

Natasha focuses ob the board in front of her. This was her chance to impress him even more. She takes her shot and it lands right in the centre of the dart board. 

She jumps up and down in excitement. “Yes!!” She squeals as Sitwell lets’ out a breath of relief.

“IN YOUR FACE!” He shouts cockily to the rest of his friends.

The man, Brock Rumlow, stands up in anger. “Doesn’t count, she’s got to do it again!”

“Don’t be a sore loser Rumlow!” Sitwell mocks him.

Natasha giggles. 

“Don’t listen to him” Rumlow says to Natasha. “Jasper’s always been a pussy. I mean ever since Rachel left him…”

Suddenly Sitwell grabs a dart and tackles Rumlow onto a table with the sharp end of the dart pointed right against his neck. Everyone gasps in horror. 

How lovely, so he was a violent man too. This was a tougher mark than she thought. 

“Say that again Rumlow. I dare you to say that again.” Sitwell spits out violently. 

“Mate calm down.” Rumlow manages to say with his face against the table. “It was a joke, it was-“ He mutters.

Natasha goes up to Sitwell. “Jasper can we please just leave?” She asks with her voice raised slightly higher than normal to show she was terrified. 

Jasper turns to look at her and his eyes that were originally filled with anger softens. 

Sitwell throws Rumlow off the table and he lands on the floor harshly. He takes Natasha’s hands and walks out with her, not saying a word. 

They walk in silence all the way back to her apartment. Natasha makes a conscious effort to act like she was drunk enough to be speaking nonsense but not drunk enough to be completely unaware of what was going on.

Sitwell never let go of her hand until they entered her apartment and she plopped herself onto the couch clumsily. 

Natasha closes her eyes and pretends to have a headache as she groans in pain. “I’m going to need a truckload of aspirin tomorrow.”

“”I’ll get you some water.” Natasha hears him make his way into the kitchen.

Showtime again. “You know-“ She hiccups. “They all say you’re mean.” 

He comes back and puts the cup of water near her. 

“They just don’t know the real you.” She mutters out the last bit loud enough for him to hear. 

Natasha knew Sitwell was staring at her again but her eyes remained closed as she snuggles further into her cushion and pretends to be falling asleep.

“Goodnight Natalie.” 

She hears the door close. 

Natasha immediately opens her eyes and huffs out a breath of relief. 

Another day of pretending was finally over. She could finally be alone again. She could finally strip away the mask and just be Natasha Romanoff. It was exhausting. Lying was exhausting. Acting was exhausting. Pretending to be falling for someone you despise was exhausting. 

She just wanted the comfort of someone else but she couldn’t contact her team. That would be showing weakness. That would be telling them she's not focused on her job or that she was incapable of keep her own desires in check. It never mattered what she wanted. It was always about her marks wants and needs. People cared about the Black Widow doing her job. Wanda Maximoff cared about Kristen Wallace. Thor Odinson cared about Jane Foster. Bruce Banner cared about Betty Lovelace. And now, Jasper Sitwell cared about Natalie Rushman. No one cared about _Natasha Romanoff_. No one knew _Natasha Romanoff_

Now that she thinks about it, has she ever truly showed a part of herself to someone else. Her mind starts wandering and a certain pair of blue eyes show up in her head. Steve Rogers. The limited number of conversations they've had couldn't account for much but it was genuine. It was real. She didn't have to stay in character. She didn't have to analyse him and shift herself to suit his wants and needs. Natasha needed that right now. She needed to feel real emotions. _She needed to feel_. 

Before the rational part of Natasha's mind took over she grabbed the post it note from Steve out of her bag and dialled the number straight away.

It starts ringing

_You're meant to stay away from him._

The conversation with Nick, Maria and Clint comes back to her.

_The only thing off is Nat’s focus_

_We can’t have you running around not doing your job._

_Anybody not in this life, not like us, they’re a liability._

_If you care about those people Nat, you have to be careful_

_Maybe this was a bad idea_ , Natasha thought

"Hello?" Steve answered. 

_Oh this was a very bad idea_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter I've written and I hope you guys enjoy it!


	7. Who Do You Want Me To Be?

Natasha felt like she was losing a part of herself. She was forgetting her own identity and only Steve somehow served as a reminder of who she really was. 

_Maybe this was a bad idea,_ Natasha thought.

“Hello?” Steve answered.

_Oh this was a very bad idea._

———

Natasha’s breath feels like it was stuck in her throat. Steve’s voice was deep and raspier than usual. She had probably woken him up, it was a little past midnight after all.

“Hello who’s this?” 

“Steve?” Natasha finally managed to spit out something. 

“Natalie?” His voice was filled with shock but Natasha felt even more overwhelmed. 

“Did I wake you? I’m sorry I didn’t realise how late it was. I really shouldn’t have-“ Natasha starts mumbling because she truly felt bad for disturbing him.

“Nat.” That silences her straight away. This was the second time he had called her Nat, yet it sounded so natural coming from him. It sent a flutter through her entire body and Natasha wanted to savour that feeling more than anything else right now. “It’s okay.” He reassures her. 

“Was something wrong? Did you need my help?” He sounded genuinely concerned for her. A pang of guilt shoots through her. She realised how selfish she was for reaching out to him again. Being with her puts him in extreme danger. God, if only he knew that.

“I just-“ There was no point in lying to him. There was no _need_ to lie to him. “I just wanted someone to talk to.” 

There was a brief moment of silence on the other end. “I hope that’s okay.” Natasha quickly adds. God he probably thought she was such a loser. Calling a man she barely knew at like 1am just to chat because she felt lonely. Who the hell does that?

“Of course it’s okay.” Steve replies without hesitation. Natasha’s lips part slightly in shock and her throat goes dry. It shouldn’t be okay. He should hang up the phone and never speak to her again. 

“What did you want to talk about?” 

His voice was still so deep and velvety. She felt like she could fall asleep to it. Natasha wanted this. Needed this. Screw it. 

“I like listening to your voice Steve.”

What was prompting her to be so honest tonight? 

“Can you just tell me about yourself?” It was barely a whisper from her behalf. Maybe it was because she realised how pathetic it sounded and wished he didn’t hear it instead…

Steve chuckles slightly but it wasn’t mockery, it was just a genuine sound of happiness. “Are you sure? I feel like I would bore you.” 

“You could never bore me.”

“Alright.” Steve sighs. “Anything for the beautiful woman I’m trying to impress.”

Natasha could sense the smirk from his side. God this man’s charms will get him into so much trouble one day. 

“Um, well would you believe me when I said that as a little boy I was actually stick thin. Like ridiculously skinny and weak.” Steve said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Really?” 

“Yep. I was always constantly sick and had horrible asthma. It really wasn’t until I was like 17 or 18 that I started getting taller and bigger. Guess you could say puberty hit me like a truck.”

Natasha laughed softly. “I suppose so. A real glow up for sure Rogers.” 

“It didn’t happen fast enough.”

“What else don’t I know about you huh?” Natasha wanted to know more. She couldn’t help being curious.

“I have a best friend, everyone calls him Bucky.”

“Bucky? That's his real name?” Natasha didn’t believe that. 

Steve chuckled. “Natalie Rushman are you judging my best friend’s name?” 

Natasha couldn’t help the smile that crept on her face. “Maybe.”

“His real name is James Buchanan Barnes. Bucky is just his nickname.”

“That’s one hell of a nickname.” Natasha could hear Steve laughing.

“What about your family? Any siblings?” 

“Um no, I’m an only child and I- uh I grew up with my mum. My father died when I was one. Then um, my mum she passed away when I was eighteen. Bucky, and some of my other old friends are the only family I have now."

There was a brief pause because Natasha really didn’t know what to say. She had assumed that Steve had grown up in a happy, ordinary household. He was so vibrant, so full of life that she could never imagine him experiencing such loss. “Steve….I know you’ve probably already heard this a thousand times and I know it probably means nothing to you but I um- I’m really sorry for your loss.” Natasha genuinely meant it. For once she wasn’t just expressing her sympathy to deceive or appeal another person.

“Thanks Natalie. I appreciate it. It’s been a long time and I- I’m okay.”

“You don’t have to be okay Steve.” Natasha replies quickly. “Losing people you love, even if it’s been a long time…it’s never easy. And sometimes no matter how much time has passed, the hole they leave behind will always be there.”

“No one’s ever said that to me.” Steve whispers. “No one’s ever told me that um- it’s okay to not be okay.”

“Well it is." Natasha assures him. She knows exactly how he feels. "Like you think you’re okay but then once in a while, that feeling…that emptiness comes back and um- you..” Natasha was completely unsure of where she was going with this, her words were stumbling all over the place and that never happened. This was maybe too personal for her to discuss. She takes a deep breath. “You try to find memories, lots and lots of memories to fill that emptiness but then- uhh, then you realise that it may never be enough.” 

“Yeah…” Steve agrees. He sounds almost relieved that there is finally one person out there that can put what his feeling into words. “You get greedy,” he continues. “and you just want to keep making more memories.”

“Yeah.” Natasha rubs her eyes harshly as she tries to keep her voice even.

“Have you-“ Steve hesitates. “Have you, um, ever lost someone you love?”

“Once.” Natasha answers simply. She feels the memories flooding back but she pushes them away because that was a part of Natasha’s life, not Natalies’. She wasn’t allowed to relive them, not even in her head. 

Steve probably sensed that she didn’t want to talk about so he quickly continued talking about himself. “After my mum passed away I moved out of Brooklyn and moved to New York to try and start fresh. After using my inheritance to open up aN art gallery I thought I had found my sense of purpose. But after a while I realised I didn't enjoy the business side of things, creating art is what I truly loved so I decided to move again after selling it." 

“Hence why you're in Seattle now.”

“Yeah. So I’ve been here ever since.”

“And you like it here?”

“Well I got to meet you, didn’t I?” It was a flirty response but Natasha could hear a hint of sincerity in his voice. Natasha felt a pang of guilt in the pit of her stomach. Steve considered meeting her one of the good things about Seattle. If only he knew..

“I wouldn’t be so sure that meeting me is a good thing Steve.” Natasha said it as a joke but maybe she had really meant it as a warning. 

“Well I am.” He replied without hesitation. “Thank you for moving to Seattle Nat. Thank you for coming into the coffee shop that day.”

Natasha internally sighed. Why did he trust her so much. Is it just in his nature to trust anyone. Even a bitch like her?

“Thank you for talking to me tonight Steve.”

“Hey I don’t do favours for free.” Steve said sarcastically.

“Oh? Well how could I possibly repay you?” Natasha said dramatically, going along with it.

“Come to my barbecue.”

Oh no, Natasha thought. 

“Steve I-“

“You could meet Bucky. All of my closest friends. My family.” 

Natasha went silent. She wasn’t even meant to talk to him, let alone meet the most important people in his life. 

“Would you believe me if I say that you showing up would mean the world to me?” Natasha’s heart practically skipped a beat at that small confession. All of his friends would be there and yet he only seemed to care about her attending. Natasha can’t think of the last time she actually truly meant this much to someone. 

She deflected his question the only way she knew how - sarcasm. “Well you’re a terrible liar,” She heard him laugh softly. “So I do believe you.”

“So you’ll make it?”

“I-“ Natasha was trying to come up with some sort of excuse.

“Please Nat.” There it was again. His sincerity, how genuine he was, it literally makes Natasha’s ice cold heart melt. She couldn’t resist hm. 

She sighs in defeat .“Alright Steve Rogers. You win.” Natasha could hear Steve’s little victory laugh on the other end. Natasha thought it was the most refreshing sound she’s heard in a while. 

———

“Jane couldn’t have been faking everything! There has to be something real about her that she would’ve told all three of us.” Thor exclaims. 

“Well at this rate, it doesn’t look like it. We’re talking about a woman that we don’t even know the real name of.” Bruce says.

“Ok let’s start off small. What was her favourite food?” Thor suggests and all he received was weird looks from Bruce and Wanda.

“Oh come on don’t judge me. I’m just going for anything at this point.”

Wanda sighs. “Pasta.”

“Popcorn.” Thor says and gestures for Bruce to answer as well.

“Chocolate. And popcorn? Really?”

“Well yeah I found it weird too.” Thor says. “She used to eat it one at a time and nibble at it like a delicate little bird.”

“She’s allergic to eggs and shellfish.” Wanda interrupts.

“What? No she isn’t!”

“Are you kidding me? She was like terrified of even being near shellfish. It was kind of annoying.”

“Popcorn was really the only thing that annoyed one.”

“The only thing?” Wanda asked. “I had like practically hundreds.”

“Well obviously.” Bruce stated.

“What do you mean obviously?”

“That’s the beauty of our mysterious wife. She can be whoever she wants to be. For you Wanda, she was drama and provocation. For Thor she was elegance and sophistication. And for me…” Bruce coughed uncomfortably. “Well she was everything I ever wanted I guess.” 

“This is stupid then. How are we supposed to know what’s real if she was so different to each of us?” 

“Was there any stories about her childhood? Her family?”

“Well I remember her talking about a black cat she once had named-“

“Liho.” They all said in unison.

They all looked at each other with excitement and shock. Finally they had found something consistent.

“It wasn’t hers but it hung out near her backyard so often that she ended up adopting it!” Wanda says.

Bruce continues. “She really loved it but then this one time-“

“It ran out of the house and into the snow.” Thor cuts him off to carry on with the story.

“And because it was all black it was easy to find in the snow.” 

“Because snow is white!” Thor yells but only received weird looks from Wanda and Bruce again. He sighs. “You get what I mean.”

The adrenaline slowly wears off as they realise that a person owning a cat as a child is really nothing out of the ordinary.

“So we know she had a cat, that’s sure as shit not helpful.”

They all sigh in defeat. 

“You know what I think?” Wanda breaks the small silence. “I think our life is like a murder scene that has been perfectly cleaned up. No clues left behind.”

“At least she won’t be able to destroy us with all the inside information she has.” Bruce adds and Thor and Wanda immediately tense up. 

“What are you talking about?”

“The envelope she left in the freezer? Like after the whole “sorry for destroying your life” video?”

“What?” Thor looks confused but Bruce is sure that they both know exactly what he is talking about.

“It had secrets and bad stuff you’d never want anyone to-“ He turns to meet Wanda’s judgemental expression. “Why are you looking at me like I’m crazy?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about Bruce.” Wanda says defensively.

“Yeah me neither.”

“Oh come on you two are so full of shit!” Bruce was getting angry now. They were all on the same boat and yet these two couldn’t let down their pride to admit that they had dirty secrets just like him. “I bet whatever was in your folders was way worse than what was in mine.”

“Who cares Banner?” Thor interjects. “It’s all in the past now. Never backwards-“

“Always forward.” Bruce finishes Thor’s sentence.

They look back at each other. Now this was something new. “She used to say that to you too?” Thor asked.

“She used to say that to me after I had a long day in the labs.” 

“Wait she used to say that to me too when I had a fight with my family.” Wanda adds.

“Could that mean something?” 

“I don’t know it could just be a saying. Like a- a motto.”

Wanda grabs her laptop and googles the saying. They could just be reading too much into this but it could also be a major clue.

“It is a motto! For like seven different schools.” Wanda says.

“Wait you guys…what if she attended one of these schools?”

“That would be huge, we could track down her roots.”

“There’s like seven schools here how do we narrow them down?”

Bruce observes the list. “Well two of these are all boys school so we can take them out. Two of them were only founded a couple years ago so not them either. That just leaves us with three..”

“That’s still too many…”

“Wait the mascot for St. Agnes Academy in Pottsville, Pennsylvania is a tiger!.” Thor speaks up.

“And?”

“Well uh- she um- okay we used to have names for each other when we were uh- in bed and-“

“Ok Thor please.”

“Ok ok I don’t mean to offend you guys it’s just, that’s what Jane used to call me in bed! Tiger. That can’t be a coincidence.”

“Thor we’re not going to Pennsylvania based on that.” Wanda says.

“Wait Wanda maybe he's right.” Bruce suggests.

“What do you mean?”

“Well in all three versions of the story she told us about Liho it was winter and it was snowing.”

Wanda seems deep in thought for a moment before she finally catches on. 

“Oh right! And our other two options are Texas and Florida which wouldn’t make sense. That leaves us with just Pottsville, Pennsylvania!” She says excitedly. 

“See! Told you I’m right!” Thor yells. 

They smile widely at each other. Relieved and excited that they were one step closer to their goal. 

“Pottsville here we come!” Wanda shouts as she jumps up and down.

———

Thor and Wanda sneak into the school and manage to find where they store the yearbooks. Bruce was outside making small talk with one the staff members, pretending to be an old student, so Thor and Wanda would be able to escape through the windows afterwards. It was a lame plan but who could blame them? They were desperate for answers after weeks of searching for clues. 

“There she is.” Wanda points to the picture on the bottom left corner.

Thors’ eyes widen. There it was.. A photo of Jane with her real name right underneath it. 

“Natasha Romanoff.” The name felt foreign on Thor’s tongue. 

They finally know who she is. Now, they’re going to find her. 

———

“I made you a coffee Mr Sitwell.” Natasha cautiously walks into Sitwell’s room, making sure to appear extra nervous.

Sitwell looks up to meet her gaze but replies coldly. “I’ve already had mine.” 

“Oh. Um-Mr Sitwell I just wanted to apologise for my behaviour that night.” She looks at him very sweetly and plays with her curls slightly. “I don’t remember much except that you were literally the perfect gentlemen.”

HIs stand-off vibe shifts and his gaze softens. The soft spot he has for her is finally appearing again. Natasha could really use this to her advantage. “I did my best Miss Rushman and I had fun but I don’t think this the appropriate place for this conversation.”

“Of course. Call me if you need anything.” Natasha prepares to leave.

“You know-“ Natasha turns back to face him and he looks at her sweetly. “I don’t think we’ll get these numbers finished by next week.”

Oh. Maybe she was closer to her goal than she thought.

“Well I’m free this weekend.” Natasha gives him a genuine smile. No suggestive smirk or flirty comments. She had to act like this date was purely innocent.

“Well I’ll book us a table at my favourite restaurant then.” Natasha could actually see excitement on his face. God knows the last time this man has been on a date.

“Sounds great Mr Sitwell.”

Natasha walked out of Sitwell’s office feeling relief and dread. Relief because she was one step closer to her target. Her team was right on schedule which meant her job would almost be complete. However, she was also dreading this “date” because she knew how her first dates with marks always ends. Sitwell would end up in her bed by the end of the day. 

Natasha always slept with her mark after their first date. It was an essential part of the plan. In order to built an emotional connection you must also develop a strong physical bond and become intimate with the other. It’s what had to be done and no matter how much she actually liked or disliked her mark, she would not hesitate to fuck them to get the job done. She was meant to the Black Widow right? She was meant to eat her partner alive with no hesitation. It was never meant to be hard for her. However this time, Natasha wasn’t sure if she would be able to follow through because during her entire conversation with Sitwell, there was a person in the back of her mind. The thought of him made Natasha feel downright disgusting as she realised she would once again be using sex as a weapon to manipulate and deceive. 

———

“Where are the others Nick?” Maria asked. Fury had requested for another group meeting. However, to Maria’s surprise she was the only one present despite being late.

“They’re not here. It’s just you and me.”

“What?” Maria suddenly became wary. Yes, Fury and her were close. Maria could even say she trusted him. But she knew that Fury’s loyalty will always lie with the President, regardless of how much he may care for the team. 

“Maria I have reasons to believe that you’re withholding valuable information from us that could help land Jasper Sitwell.”

“What? Nick there’s no way I-“

“Or, you simply know something about Sitwell that you’re not telling us.”

“How could you possibly think that?” Maria was still trying to hold her ground.

“It’s been weeks Maria. You’re in his home everyday. Yet all your reports have been vague and insufficient. Have you become terrible at your job or are you keeping something from the President?” Fury’s voice became stern and his presence suddenly became too intimidating for Maria to handle. 

Maria remains silent and Fury starts getting patient. “Maria. What are you hiding?”

“I-“ Maria contemplates whether she should tell him the truth. There will be consequences but looking at Fury’s facial expression right now, she didn’t have much of a choice. “I found something.” 

“That’s all you’re going to give me?”

“I was cleaning and I uh- under the floorboards, I found um-“

“Spit it out.” 

“I found a huge stack of cash under the floors. There’s probably a couple hundred grand.” Maria huffs out a shaky breath and continues. “That’s why I felt like this mission felt off. I know Sitwell is meant to be loaded but he is still only a guy that works for someone else, how can he have that much cash just laying it around?”

Fury doesn’t seem phased and if he is, he doesn’t show it. “You don’t get to ask any questions Maria.”

“But Nick-“

“Do not tell anyone else about this. Don’t do anything about the cash. Keep playing your part and act like nothing is out of the ordinary. As far as the President is concerned, everything is fine and we are right on schedule.”

“Nick I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

Fury lets out a bitter laugh. “Feelings. God if everyone could just stop caring about their goddamn feelings and do their job, this wouldn’t be so hard.”

“Nick-“

“If we don’t land this target Maria. We will all be in danger." He pauses and moves to invade Maria's personal space. "You know what the President will do. Who he will send.” Fury’s voice becomes even darker.

The idea of the President taking action against the team suddenly dawns on Maria and she couldn’t hide the fear on her face.

“I’m sure Nat has it handled Nick.” Maria tries to reassure him. 

“I wouldn’t be so sure. She’s never taken this long to make such little progress.”

“Are you saying she’s distracted?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Guess we’ll have to see.”

They both remain silent after that. 

———

The weekend came faster than Natasha expected. She was not only attending Steve’s barbecue but also going on a date with Sitwell later tonight. God this was so messed up. 

It was just a barbecue so Natasha dressed very casual but still sophisticated in her own way. It was a black dress that hugged her curves but sort of ruffled at the bottom. She put her dark red hair in a loose pony tail and layered some necklaces to complete the look. 

She had arrived a little later than expected because of traffic. Natasha hadn’t notified Steve so she hopes he doesn’t think she’s not showing up. She parks her car and notices that Steve was probably actually wealthier than he let on as she eyes the house in front of her. It was an impressive piece of property. 

She made it to the front door and prepared to knock until she realised a little note next to the doorbell. 

_Barbecue inside! Come on in :)_

Natasha makes her way inside. Wow it really was a beautiful house. Very homey. Very Steve. 

“Hey you made it!” Steve approaches her and wraps her in a tight embrace before she has time to protest. Natasha couldn’t help but lean into his chest a little more as she breathed in his scent that felt so familiar to her. He smelt like wood, earthy and sensual.

“Sorry I’m late.”

They pull away but he doesn’t let go of her hand. Steve has his usual charming smile on his face. “That's alright. I'm just glad you made it! Here let me introduce you to my friends.” He leads her outside and there’s not that many people but it was a good crowd.

“This is Bucky Barnes, my best friend. Bucky, this is Nat.” Natasha takes in the appearance of Bucky Barnes. He seemed like a nice guy as he greets Natasha with a genuine, child-like smile that reaches his eyes.

“So this is the famous Natalie Rushman.” Bucky raises an eyebrow cheekily as Natasha sees a small blush spreading across Steve’s cheeks. “Steve talks very highly of you Miss Rushman.” He brings out a hand for Natasha to shake which she gladly accepts.

“Wish I could say the same Mr Barnes.” Natasha says sarcastically as she gives him a playful smirk. They all chuckle.

“Oh what have you been saying about me punk?” Bucky asks as he lightly punches Steve on the shoulder.

“Nothing that wasn’t true I’m afraid.”

A tall blonde woman appears and stands next to Bucky as he instinctively wraps his arm around her waist. “You planning on introducing me anytime soon Barnes?”

Bucky chuckles. “Oh how could I forget? Natalie this is my fiancé, Carol Danvers. Babe, this is Natalie Rushman.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Carol.” Natasha goes for a handshake but Carol doesn’t accept, “Oh please. None of that!” She pulls Natasha in for a hug and Natasha chuckles in surprise. 

They pull away and Carol looks her up and down. “Gee you’re just as beautiful as Steve says!” Carol exclaims and Natasha actually blushes. All his friends knew about her and she couldn’t help but wonder what he has said about her. 

“Oh come on Carol not you too!” Steve says as he groans in embarrassment. 

“Hey, it’s my job to embarrass you.” 

“No I thought that was my job.” Bucky interjects.

Steve sighs. “You two were made for each other.” 

They all laugh and Steve takes Natasha’s hand again. “Come on I’ll let you meet some of my _better_ friends.” He says cheekily as they walk off.

“Hey what’s that supposed to mean?” Bucky calls out, pretending to be hurt.

“Sam!” Steve yells out and another man around his age turns around with a wide grin on his face.

“You must be Natalie Rushman! I’m Sam Wilson!”

He pulls Natasha in for a hug straight away and Natasha returns it. “It’s lovely to meet you.” She greets him. 

“It’s good to meet you too. Steve hasn’t shut up about you.”

“Sam….” Steve warns. Natasha tried to contain another laugh from escaping her lips. Steve’s friends were something else. All out to get him.

“Alright alright! I’m sure Barnes already gave you a tough time so I’ll shut up.”

“Good. Thank you.” Steve lets out a breath of relief and gestures for Natasha to keep walking. They come to a table where a man is sitting on his own, his attention on his phone.

“Tony.” Steve calls and then man looks up after a couple of seconds. 

“Rogers. Need something?” Gee this man wasn’t as friendly as the others, no wonder he was sitting alone.

“I wanted to introduce to you a friend of mine. Natalie Rushman. Nat, this is Tony Stark.”

“It’s great to meet you Tony.” 

He doesn’t stand up to greet her. Not even a handshake or smile. He just looks her up and down in suspicion as if he already knew who she really was. Natasha managed to appear impassive and confident under his intimidating gaze. “Natalie huh?” He grabs out his phone. “How do you spell your last name?”

“Tony…” Steve warns. 

What the hell was this man doing? Natasha decided to play along.

“Rushman. R-U-S-H-M-A-N.” She replies cooly. 

“Nat you don’t have to-“ Steve had a concerned expression on his face almost like he was afraid that Tony had already made her feel uncomfortable. Of course he had but she wasn’t going to let it get to her.

“Huh..” Tony scrolls through his phone. “You have some impressive skills Miss Rushman.” 

Suddenly it clicked. He was googling her. What the hell? Was this man such a paranoid person that he felt the need to google her? Natasha remained calm as she knew the President would have handled her digital footprint as Natalie Rushman. He was clever like that. You can always count on him to be one step ahead. 

“Tony please..” Steve was so embarrassed as he glared at Tony. 

“You can speak Spanish, Russian, French, Latin. Gee and I thought Latin was a dead language. You even did modelling in Tokyo. I bet Rogers here has never dated a girl half as impressive as you.” He looks at her with a smirk on his face. 

“Tony that’s enough.” Steve said sternly. Natasha turns to see Steve practically fuming beside her. She’s never seem him like this. Natasha could practically see his muscles tensing and flexing through his tight button up. She didn’t even know if she should feel relieved that Steve had her back or incredibly turned on because he was so protective of her.

“Calm down Rogers, just making some small talk.” Tony finally stands up and straightens out his jacket. “Well I’m going to go engage in a conversation with someone else now.” He turns to look at Natasha. “It was nice meeting you Miss Rushman.” He practically struts away as he turns his head slightly and gives Steve a look that Natasha didn’t catch. 

Steve grabs Natasha’s arm gently and turns to face her. “Hey, are you okay? I’m really sorry if he made you uncomfortable.”

“That would be an understatement,” she manages a small laugh. “But I’m okay.”

“He is a nice guy you know? He's just incredibly protective of everyone around him, especially me.”

“Well I guess he has a good reason to be Steve.” 

“What do you mean?”

“You’re such a good person. You’re genuine, kind, trusting. That comes with a price you know? People could use that against you. Tony is just looking out for you. His a good friend.”

“Yeah he is.” He looks at her with pure adoration and disbelief. “Wow I’ve never met a woman that’s so understanding after being treated like crap.” 

“What can I say? I’m one of a kind.” Natasha smirks at him and Steve chuckles.

“Let me get you a drink.” Steve offers and Natasha nods. 

He takes her hand again, entwines their fingers together and leads her back towards his group of friends. 

After a couple drinks Natasha could say she was really enjoying hanging out with Steve and his friends, apart from Tony since he went back to sitting by himself whilst drowning in all the wine this house has to offer. 

Carol suggested they open up another bottle of red wine and Natasha offered to help her pick out one. They head to the wine cabinet together. 

“Has anyone ever told you that you have this um- you have this mystery to you?” Carol asks.

Natasha lets out a small laugh. “No, what makes you say that?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’ve just realised that you don’t really like talking about yourself.”

“Oh I um-I’ve just always been a private person I guess.”

If Natasha looked suspicious Carol didn’t notice as she picked out a wine bottle. “Fair enough. I know a few people like that.” 

They head into the kitchen to open up the bottle of wine. 

“You know I can see why he likes you.” 

Natasha turns to look at Carol with a doubtful gaze. 

“Like he genuinely likes you Natalie. Now I don’t know how romantic it is but I honestly don’t remember the last time his looked at someone with pure adoration.” Carol was trying to reassure her and Natasha could sense she was telling the truth. She wasn’t uncertain about Steve’s feelings for her, she was uncertain about her feelings for him because she really shouldn’t feel anything for him at all.

“I know and there is something about him.” Natasha leans against the table and takes a deep breath. “There’s just something about him. It’s just...easy.” Natasha hesitates. She mentally chides herself for being so open and honest. She wasn’t lying, it’s been easy with Steve since day one. It’s been easy getting to know him. Natasha felt like she could actually be herself, speak her own thoughts and feelings. He knew the real Natasha Romanoff and that would usually frighten her, but Steve Rogers was an exception for a reason she couldn’t explain.

“Maybe it’s too easy.” Natasha sighs.

“Hey.” Carol turns to look her in the eye. “Sometimes when it’s the right person everything feels easy and it will feel so weird at first that...you don’t believe it’s real.” Carol smiles at her. “But it is.”

Natasha smiles back. “Is this something Steve does? Bring the new girl to the barbecue?”

“Natalie Rushman are you asking me if my fiancé's best friend is a player?” Carol replies back playfully.

Natasha chuckles. “Well can you blame me? He's a charmer.”

“He sure is.” Carol agrees. “But Steve is everything but a player. Would you believe me if I told you he has only ever had one girlfriend?” 

Natasha’s eyebrow quirks up in shock. “What?”

“Right? That was my reaction at first as well. Let’s just say Steve doesn’t fall in love easily but when he does, he falls hard.” 

Natasha heart twists at that comment.

“I think he is into you.” Carol adds. “And I can see why he would be.” Carol smirks at her and Natasha manages to give her a small smile. She was still processing the idea of Steve falling head over heels for her, only to find out she is nothing like he imagined. It would crush him. It would break his heart. Natasha shouldn’t be doing this. She doesn’t deserve to even have him as a friend. God why did she even come here? Of all the times she’s been able to keep her feelings in check, why has she failed this time? 

“Hey are you okay?” Carol notices her silence. 

“Yeah. Yeah.” She manages to mutter. The kitchen suddenly felt stuffy, making it hard for her to breathe. “I just-um I just need to use the restroom.”

“Yeah of course. Um just keep walking straight down the hall and turn right, you’ll see it.”

“Thank you.” Natasha mutters quickly and practically bolts down the hall. 

She reaches the bathroom and locks the door behind her and lets out a shaky breath. 

She leans against the sink and is met by her reflection the small mirror.

“What are you doing Natasha Romanoff?” she whispers so quietly it could have been mistaken for just small breaths. 

She honestly doesn’t remember the last time she acknowledged the woman in the mirror as her true self. 

Kristen.

Jane.

Betty. 

Natalie. 

Black Widow.

She was everyone else before she was herself. 

Natasha wanted to stay in here but she also knew she needed to get herself together in less than 60 seconds before the people outside started getting suspicious. Before Steve started getting worried.

_Get it together you._

Natasha grabs her lipstick out of her bag and calmly applies it despite every muscle in her body shaking uncontrollably. 

She looks at herself one last time and takes a long deep breath.

Natasha heads out but she must’ve gone the wrong way as she enters another part of the house.

She doesn’t leave immediately though as a table full of photo frames catches her attention. She spots one of Tony and Steve dressed as Captain America and Iron Man at a Halloween party. Natasha couldn’t help but chuckle. 

These two were definitely the perfection depiction of the two very different superheroes. Steve as Cap was practically perfect. Righteous, kind, selfless. Too pure for this world, too good-

“What are you doing back here?” Tony Stark walks in disrupting her thoughts. 

Natasha doesn’t let it phase her. “Just got lost.”

Tony crosses his arms defensively and stares Natasha down. Natasha doesn’t let it startle her and stares back at him with equal intensity

“Miss Rushman. Let me tell you something.” 

He paces around the room but his eyes never leave hers. 

“Steve is one of my best friends. He is a fine young man as you can tell, but he is also an idiot.” 

Natasha doesn’t respond so he continues. “He doesn’t know people like I do. In fact, he always sees the best in people and forgets that there are people out there who are just like the villains we see in movies.” 

“What are you implying Mr Stark?” Natasha gives him a confused look. 

He doesn’t answer her question but calmly puts his sunglasses on and starts heading for the front door to leave. “Don’t be one of those people Miss Rushman.” He warns her as he walks past.

As Natasha hears the door shut she lets out a breath she didn’t even realise she was holding.

Tony Stark was something else for sure. 

———

Nick dials the number into his burner phone with dread. He hated these stupid weekly reports. 

“Mr President.” 

“Nick Fury. Nice to hear from you. Any updates?”

“We have engaged with the mark and so far it’s been a smooth ride.”

“Any progress?”

“We’ve had steady progress. Not too fast, not too slow. Right on schedule.”

“That’s very vague Fury. Usually your team works faster than that.”

“Mr President I can assure you-“

“Is Natasha getting distracted?”

Fury pauses as his mouth goes dry. The President knows. 

“Because Fury..” Nick could head the man flipping papers on the other end. He was probably reading a report on the progress they’ve made. Which is practically none at this point. “If she’s getting distracted you know what I have to do.”

“Mr President Natasha is doing an amazing job as usual. I can assure you.”

“Do I need to send in Hela Odinson?”

Fury’s blood practically runs cold at the mention of this woman’s name. “Sir there is no need. I promise you we will report back with more progress next week.”

There was no response and Fury begins to panick. “I promise you.” He emphasises.

“Alright. I always enjoy our little talks Fury. Goodbye.”

The President hangs up and Fury immediately snaps the burner phone in half in frustration. He buries his head in his hands as he sighs loudly.

“Goddamnit Natasha.”

———

Maria was doing her usual job as she cleaned Jasper Sitwell’s house. She couldn’t do much digging today as he had stayed home and was currently in his bedroom.

She was mopping the kitchen when a tap on her shoulder startles her. She gasps and turns around only to realise it was just Sitwell “Oh Mr Sitwell, sorry I didn’t even realise you came in.”

“All good. Um I need your advice on something.” He actually seemed almost shy. Maria’s never seen him like this.

”Yeah sure what about?” 

He holds up two different ties. “I’m uh- I’m going out and didn’t know which tie to wear.”

“Oh is this a date?” She asks cheekily and Sitwell actually blushes, _blushes._

“Yeah um it is.”

“Oh Mr Sitwell that’s great! If you don’t mind maybe you could tell me a little about this woman? Then I can help you pick?” She asks innocently. 

“Well-uh,” he fixed his glasses quickly and continues, “I’ve never met anyone quite like her. There’s just this energy that she gives off that makes me feel good you know? She makes me-“ he hesitates for a second but continues, “she makes me want to be nice?” He wasn’t sure if his response made sense but Maria understood. 

Maria was impressed. Natasha really can get every guy under her spell. Even an asshole like Sitwell. 

“You really like her don’t you?”

Sitwell only nods slightly as he smiles.

“I’m happy for you Mr Sitwell.” She moves to inspect the ties and randomly picks one. “Oh this one. This ones perfect.” She exclaims dramatically, as if she had put a lot of thought into it. 

“Thank you.”

“Good luck on the date.” Maria smirks.

———

The barbecue was over pretty soon as Natasha said goodbye to everyone. It was just her and Steve now.

“You’re friends are great Steve.” 

They start walking back towards the living room. 

“I apologise about Tony, Nat.” 

“Hey it’s not your fault. And I know he is just looking out for you.”

“Yeah I know. I love the guy but I wish sometimes he could be less wary about literally everything around him.” 

Natasha just smiles at him, hoping he realises it’s not his fault that Tony mistreated her.

A piano ballad begins playing through the speakers and Natasha remembers it from her ballet lessons as a child.

“I love this song.” She says.

“Oh I’ll turn it up.” Steve grabs a remote and immediately turns it up.

He turns back to see Natasha with a mischievous smile on her face as she offers her hand out to him.”Want to dance Rogers?” Natasha doesn’t know if it’s the alcohol in her system talking but all she wanted to do right now was sway to the music. More importantly, she just wanted to be closer to Steve. 

Natasha could see him getting nervous. “I um- I don’t really know how to dance.” 

“That’s alright I’ll guide you.” She gives him a reassuring smile but Steve shakes his head slightly. 

“I’ll probably step on your toes or something Nat.”

“Hey..” Natasha steps closer to him and reaches for his hand. “I’ve seen worse.” She smirks at him playfully.

“Yeah that makes me feel so much better Natalie, thanks.” He responds sarcastically. 

She laughs and drags him to the empty space in the living room. “Come on.”

“You sure about this?" He still had a uncertain expression in his face.

“Yeah. It’ll be fun.” 

He relaxes a little as Natasha wraps her arms around his neck. He instinctively puts her hands on her waist and pulls her closer. Their bodies were now pressed against each other as Natasha rested her head on his chest since he was so much taller than her.

They move together and dance slowly for quite a while. Both getting lost in the music and in each other. 

“You know I still don’t know much about you Natalie.” Steve breaks the comfortable silence. 

Natasha inwardly sighs. She should’ve expected that he would start asking question sooner or later. Questions she wish she had answers to. She has answers, it's just none of them were real...

“What do you want to know?”

“Tell me about your family.”

“Not much to tell. Just a small family.”

“You’re not close with them?” 

“Not really. We barely speak to each other. It’s kind of complicated.”

Steve stops dancing for a second to look at her and Natasha lifts her head up to meet his gaze. 

“Is everything about you complicated?” He brings his hand up and brushes her thumb against her cheek.

“I suppose so.”

“If you’re not close with your family then...who are you close with?” Steve keeps his hand on her face as he leans in a little closer.

“A few people...It’s kind of hard to put an exact label on who they are to me.” Natasha finds herself leaning in closer but he was so much taller than her it practically made no difference until he decided to lean down even further. 

They were so close. Natasha could feel the heat radiating off of his body and his minty breath on her face. That woody, earthly smell was invading her senses and she couldn’t think clearly. 

He leans in a little closer and Natasha thought he was going to kiss her but instead he asks, “Who do you want me to be?” 

It was a simple question but Natasha knew Steve Rogers. He was a gentlemen. A giver. She knows what he really means, what he really needs. _Permission._

Natasha hesitates. Not only would she be giving him permission to kiss her but it would be permission to let him in. Natasha knew the consequences of letting him into her world. It couldn’t happen. 

Natasha feels this lump in her throat that makes it impossible for her to speak as Steve stares at her in anticipation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so sorry for the late update. I have a lot planned and some really exciting things for this fic but the journey to get there is taking me a while to write and figure out. I hope you can bear with me!
> 
> Happy reading! :)


	8. I Want You But I Can't Have You.

_“Who do you want me to be?”_

———

Natasha allows her to drown in Steve’s intoxicatingly innocent blue eyes for a second. _Just one more second_ , Natasha thinks to herself.

Steve begins to lean in and their lips are seconds away from touching. 

_If you care about those people Nat, you have to be careful._

Maria’s warning rings through her head. 

In an instant, the image of beat up and bloody Steve forms inside her mind. His vivid gaze becomes lifeless and dull. His lively smile wiped from his face and replaced by a terrified expression. He was on the brink of death and all she would be able to do is stand by and watch. 

She couldn’t let that happen. _She wouldn’t._

She snaps out of her trance in a second and pushes Steve away abruptly.

“Woah.” Steve says in surprise. 

Natasha can’t wipe the wild look off her face and meets his confused gaze.

“I’m sorry.” She breathes out.. “I’m so sorry.”

“Never had that happen to me before.” He jokes, in an attempt to lighten the mood but Natasha’s guilty gaze remained. 

“I’m sorry Steve. I- I just- I’m not ready for a relationship.”

“Hey” he holds her hand gently. “It’s okay. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed anything.”

“It’s not you!" She spits out quickly."God it’s not you Steve, please don’t apologise. I’m not saying I don’t want this.”

“Then why do you keep pushing me away?” He blurts out. 

Natasha is taken back by this question and before she can come up with an answer Steve reaches up and brushes his thumb gently against her cheek, closing the distance between them again.

“Why won’t you let me in?” He whispers those words. There was so much confusion, so much hurt in his tone. 

“Steve…” Natasha’s voice trails off, there was nothing that could be said to justify her abrupt behaviour. So she does the only thing she can to assure that it wasn’t his fault this happened. 

Natasha takes Steve’s hand on her cheek and holds onto it tightly. She stands up onto her tippy toes and leans forward to press a firm kiss on his cheek. Natasha hoped this was enough. She hoped that this could convey all the words she wanted to say to him but couldn’t. 

_I want you but I can’t have you._

Natasha pulls away slowly and meets his gaze. He looked shocked, and slightly disappointed. 

“I’m sorry.” She whispers one last time before turning around and leaving a very confused Steve to figure out the meaning behind this moment. 

As usual, Natasha couldn’t dwell on her feelings for too long. She needed to prepare for her dinner date with Sitwell, and everything that was going to happen after that...

———

Natasha barely had any time to get ready for this date but managed to look somewhat presentable before heading out the door. It shouldn’t take too much effort to impress Sitwell, she already had him hooked. 

She enters the restaurant in a rush and after asking one of the waitresses, she finds Sitwell sitting alone at a table, waiting for her.

She swiftly sits down. “Hi Jasper!” Her high pitched voice returns, paired with a bright smile.

“Natalie!” His eyes light up. “You look lovely.” Since their first meeting, Sitwell’s gaze on Natasha has shifted from demeaning to actual adoration. It seemed he was actually developing genuine feelings for her. Scratch that, not her, Natalie Rushman. 

Natasha proceeds to appear flattered. “Thank you.” 

For the remainder of their dinner date, Natasha pretended to be fully engaged in the conversation. Complimenting him. Laughing at his jokes. Pleasing him. 

It was almost midnight when they decided to finally leave the restaurant and Sitwell offered to take her home.

The drive back was silent because Natasha couldn’t bring herself to pretend she was enjoying his company anymore. Her stomach twisted at the inevitable when they finally reached her apartment.

“Thanks for a lovely night Jasper, I had a lot of fun.” 

“So did I. I couldn’t have asked for a better assistant.” He replies.

Their eyes meet and Natasha can see the desire in his eyes so she subtly bites her lips to edge him on. As she predicted, Sitwell leans in and connects their lips together. The kiss was forceful and rushed but Natasha kept up as she puts one of her hands on his bicep.

Natasha knew where this had to go but she couldn’t go through it. This felt wrong. She unconsciously starts digging her nails into the palm of her hand to suppress the urge to throw up. She fully stops her movement when a certain blonde invades her thoughts. Steve. Of all the times for him to show up in her head, this was probably the most inconvenient time. 

Natasha pulls away before this could go any further. She would sleep with Sitwell eventually but she decided it wouldn't be tonight.

“Everything okay?” He asks her.

“Yeah..” She mutters, “I uh-I just want to take things slow.” 

What a load of bullshit. 

“Oh.” He looked disappointed but Natasha didn’t care. “I understand.” 

“Thank you again for such a wonderful evening.” She says before getting out of the car. 

“Goodnight Jasper.”

“Night Natalie.” 

———

Natasha went through the rest of the week smoothly. Sitwell was still infatuated with her, especially since he only got a taste of what was to come. She decided that she might be able to turn the situation around and use it to her advantage. 

Then, it was finally Friday again and after a tiring day at work all Natasha wanted to do was lay down with a good bottle of wine and watch some crappy reality television. The last thing she expected was a call from Steve…

She contemplated whether she should just ignore it., cut him off for good. However, after a few persistent rings her heart won over her head and she answered. 

“Steve?”

“Natalie." He seemed surprised that she actually answered. "Uh, it’s been a while. How’ve you been?”

“Is everything okay?” Natasha didn’t want to engage in small talk with him, considering she shouldn't even be talking to him. 

“I wanted to know if you would like to go out for lunch with me. Just-just as friends.” He asks hesitantly.

“Steve, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” That was the truth. 

“It doesn’t have to be anything more than lunch. I still want us to be friends Nat.”

Friends. That doesn’t sound so bad. 

“Okay. That sounds nice.”

She hears him let out a small chuckle. “Great! Uh, how does one o’clock sound? I’ll come pick you up.”

“Looking forward to it.”

“Me too.” He said sincerely. 

With that, she hangs up and mentally beats herself up. She was digging herself in deeper and deeper into this mess. What scares her most is that she couldn’t find the will to stop...

———

Steve had taken Natasha to a small, artsy cafe. There was barely anyone here and she found it surprisingly nice. A little bit of peace and quiet is exactly what needed. 

Natasha was half way through devouring her pasta when she looked up to see Steve staring at her, rather than eating his own burger. 

“What?”

Steve tears his gaze away and laughs. “Nothing, um-you’re just cute when you really dig into something.”

 _Cute?_ Did he really just call her cute while she was busy stuffing her face?

Her bewildered expression only makes him laugh harder. 

“I am not cute.” 

She emphasises her point by snatching some of the fries off his plate and eating them in the messiest way possible.

Steve just continues chuckling lowly. “Nope scratch that. You’re not cute,” he pauses and gives her a cheeky smile before leaning forward and whispering, “you’re actually adorable.” 

Natasha rolls her eyes and decides to let it go, this man was delusional.

“Whatever.” She mutters as he laughs.

“So how’s work been?” He continues their conversation.

“Busy. Exhausting. Not everyone can just lounge around and still get everything they want.” She directs that at him.

“Well I don’t get to kiss the girl I like.” He jokes , shrugging his shoulders and Natasha deflects with another witty comment.

“Well you can’t have it all Rogers.” She smirks at him and he just nods in agreement.

“I guess I can’t.” 

After lunch, Natasha came to the conclusion that her relationship with Steve didn’t have to be complicated. They could simply just be friends, like he said. 

They reach her apartment and Steve, being the gentleman he is, opens the car door for her.

“I hope my company wasn’t too bad.” Steve says as she steps out of the car.

“I had a great time Steve. I’m glad we can be friends.”

He nods and Natasha notices his gaze intensifying. Before she could open her mouth to ask what’s wrong he gently grabs her arm and plants a soft kiss on her cheek. Natasha was taken aback and when he pulled back she swore she could still feel that part of her cheek tingling in sensation.

“What was that?” She had meant for it to come out stern but her voice was shaky.

He smirks at her. “Returning the favour for a friend.”

She chuckles. Throwing her actions right back at her huh? Bold move.

Their moment was interrupted abruptly as Jasper Sitwell appeared out of nowhere, storming towards her in full rage. 

Uh oh.

“Miss Rushman.” He huffed out in anger.

Natasha was at a loss for words and only managed to mutter, “Mr Sitwell. Um, what are you doing here?” 

“Who the hell are you?!” He ignores her question and glares daggers at Steve.

Poor Steve was so confused.

“He's my friend.” Natasha quickly replies. 

“Friend huh? Then why the hell were you two touching and kissing like no one else was watching?”

Steve was beyond confused. “Wait is this your boyfriend?” He asks.

“Wait what? No! Mr Sitwell’s my boss. His not-“ 

Natasha was cut off by Sitwell’s screaming. “Get the hell away from her.” He orders Steve.

Steve turns to Natasha and mutters a quick, “I’ll call you later Nat,” before getting into his car and driving away. 

Natasha was furious at Sitwell. How dare he? The mask of Natalie Rushman faded away as her entire body filled with anger and frustration.

Before she knew it, she was screaming at Sitwell for disrespecting Steve.

“What the hell was that?!”

“I’m sorry if I lose it every time I see a man lay hands on my property!” He yells back.

“Your property?” Natasha lets out a bitter laugh. “We went on one date Mr Sitwell. Just because you kissed me and then tried to grope me doesn’t make me yours.” 

Her tone was icy and dangerous. Sitwell looks stunned and at a loss for words. The sweet, naive and quiet Natalie Rushman was raging with fire and if he thought he had seen the worse of her, he had another thing coming.

“You better watch your tone Miss Rushman.” His warning had no effect on her, considering he looked like he was about shit himself.

“Or what?” She fired back.

He had nothing to say. Natasha took silence as a sign of defeat before turning on her heels and leaving him. 

When she was finally left alone in her own apartment she realised she had just screwed this whole thing up. Shit. 

What was she going to do now? 

All the progress she had made with Sitwell in the past few weeks were erased because she couldn’t keep her emotions from coming out. If she didn’t find a way to amend her relationship with him fast, then not only will she be in danger but also her friends.

She had to fix this, but how?

———

On Monday, she dressed to impress, hoping that would somehow make Sitwell forget about the incident. She arrived extra early and had his morning coffee and bagel prepared on his desk. 

She attempted to find some excuse to talk to him in his office but there was no paperwork on hand that needed to be signed by him and he was busy taking phone calls all day.

Natasha checked his schedule and realised the last time she would be able to alone time with him was before he had to leave for his meeting but then a client came in and took up the rest of his day. 

After meeting with the client, Sitwell exited his office to get to his meeting and Natasha attempted to get his attention.

“Good luck for you meet-“ 

However, before the sentence left her mouth he had brushed right past with her without even sparing her glance. 

Fuck.

Natasha decided she would try harder tomorrow. She would make this right. For the sake of her team. They couldn’t bear the consequences of her mistakes. 

She arrives home but is immediately startled as she hears movement in the kitchen.

“Natasha, you’re home.” A deep, cold voice called out for her. It was a woman. 

Natasha steps back towards the door and starts twisting the door knob.

“Don’t run sweetheart." The voice warned her. "You know The President doesn’t like to chase.”

The President. He sent someone. That was never good news and she knew any attempt she made to escape now would only cause more problems for later. So Natasha takes off her coat and enters the kitchen.

This woman was cooking in her kitchen. Dressed in tight black jeans and a leather jacket. Hair twisted up into an impeccably perfect low bun. The woman turns around and shoots her an evil smirk.

“Hello Natasha. I’m Hela Odinson.” 

Natasha swallows and forces a small smile. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh trust me, the pleasure is all mine. Let’s eat!” Her fake cheery tone sends a chill down Natasha’s spine and all she can manage is a nod as she sits down at her dinner table whilst Hela brings the food. Food that Natasha had no intention of eating.

“So, it’s nice to see The Black Widow in the flesh.” She comments.

“You’ve heard about me?” 

“The President adores you Natasha. He talks about you all the time. How great you are. How quickly you land your targets…” She trails off and starts tapping her nails against the glass table.

“Do you know why I’m here Natasha?” 

“No.” Natasha lies swiftly

“Oh really? Maybe you’re not as smart as I perceive you to be then. Or, you’re just playing dumb.”

“I don’t understand the meaning of this interrogation Hela.” She replies. “My team and I are doing fine. Everything is right on schedule. Jasper Sitwell is a little more challenging than we expected but that's it.”

“Huh..” Hela looks her straight in the eye. “Tell me about Steve Rogers.”

Natasha feels her pulse quicken. They know. 

“What about him?” Natasha manages to ask, ignoring the lump in her throat.

“You tell me.”

“There’s not much to tell.” Natasha lets out a fake laugh. “He is just a friend I made at the local coffee shop. He lives around here.”

“You’re saying you’ve never seen him outside the coffee shop?”

“We’ve met up for lunch a few times but it-it was nothing. Completely harmless.”

“Well i’m afraid The President doesn’t share your opinions Natasha. He doesn’t believe that spending time with someone that’s not your mark is harmless. He doesn’t believe that you not doing your job is harmless.”

“I-“ 

“Are you sleeping with Steve Rogers?” Hela cuts her off.

“What?” Natasha laughs in disbelief. 

“I mean he seems quite fuckable to me.”

“This is not relevant to the conversation.”

“Does he want to sleep with you?’

“No, I mean-no.” Natasha was stumbling all over her words. “We’re just friends.” She settles for that.

“What about Sitwell? Have you slept with him yet?”

“No. I’m getting there.”

“That’s not good enough Natasha and you know it. You’re not doing your job.”

“I assure you, I have the situation under control.”

“The President sends me when his people aren’t doing their jobs.” She looks around the house. “And here I am! In your home…”

Natasha remains silent.

“So let me ask you again, why am I here?”

Natasha sighs. “Because I’m not doing my job.”

“Correct. Now,” she puts her hands together and leans back into her chair, “I will be staying here until you finish the job. You will sleep with Sitwell tonight.” Hela declares.

“I understand.”

“You’re good at your job Natasha, I’ve seen it. Now,” Hela laughs. “You don’t want to see me do my job because that wouldn’t be good for anyone.” It was a threat. Subtle, but still a threat that managed to make Natasha squirm uncomfortably in her seat.

“I understand.” Natasha only managed to repeat that phrase again.

“Alright then. Get dressed into something nicer. I will drive you to Sitwell’s home and you will land the mark tonight. There can be no further delay.” 

Natasha remains numb in her seat for a few more moments before managing a small nod.

This was it. Land her mark or die. She didn’t have much of a choice. 

———

Hela wasted no time in driving Natasha to Sitwell’s home after judging her attire from head to toe.

She lets her out of the car but doesn’t drive off without one last warning. 

“Don’t mess this up.” 

Then, Natasha is left alone as she makes her way towards Sitwell’s home. Every step she took, felt heavy. This was so wrong.

She makes it to the front door and knocks. “Mr Sitwell?” 

No answer. 

She knocks again. 

Silence.

She knocks a little more harshly and the door opens itself. 

Natasha warily steps inside and finds it is dark.

“Mr Sitwell?” 

She makes her way to the living room and finds it is a mess. The lamp was knocked over. The bookshelf was broken. A window was shattered. What happened?

She grows concerned. “Mr Sitwell?”

Natasha reaches the kitchen and finds a trail of blood. Her eyes follow the trail until it finally lands on…Maria?

She had a black eye and a bloody lip and was shaking with fear. Her eyes meet Natasha’s before looking next to next her and Natasha sees Jasper Sitwell laying there. 

At first, Natasha thought he was unconscious. Until, she notices the puddle of blood around his head. 

She gasps.

Jasper Sitwell was dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so it's been a long, long time and I don't even know if anyone is still interested in the story :( 
> 
> However, I saw some of your comments and realised that this story is worth continuing. I really want to finish this so I'm going to try my best. I promise it will be finished so if you are sticking around please comment and let me know your thoughts. They mean so much to me and really fuel me to keep writing.
> 
> Hope you all are staying safe and taking care of yourselves 
> 
> Until next time :)

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are really appreciated! Any feedback at all would also be great, hope you all enjoyed.


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